By Nelson Cary on Posted in Employee Discipline,Employee Handbooks,Union InsigniaMany employers have policies that require employees to wear uniforms. What if an employee of such an employer, however, wants to instead wear a t-shirt expressing support for a labor union? The NLRB has long regulated an employer’s ability to restrict such a right. But, the NLRB recently signaled that a change in this rule… Continue Reading
By Nelson Cary on Posted in CourtsLast week, as I’m sure everyone has now heard, President Trump announced his pick for the U.S. Supreme Court. For those of you who missed it, President Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh, a judge on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Kavanaugh has been involved in numerous decisions dealing with the NLRA. Primarily, this is… Continue Reading
By Nelson Cary and Emily Papania on Posted in Employee HandbooksRecently, the NLRB held in a 2-1 decision that a California hospital’s policies barring employees from wearing unapproved pins or badge reels violated the NLRA. Interestingly, the NLRB did not cite its new Boeing test in either the majority or dissenting opinions. At issue were two hospital policies impacting the wearing of union insignia. The… Continue Reading
By Nelson Cary on Posted in Union InsigniaTwo of my colleagues, David Campbell and Don Slezak, have authored an excellent piece on a recent NLRB decision that is a must read for employers with dress code policies. The case grew out of the “Fight for $15” campaign, which seeks to increase the minimum wage to $15/hour. The decision involved a restaurant chain that… Continue Reading
By Nelson Cary on Posted in Employee Discipline,NLRB,Union InsigniaMore than four years ago, the NLRB gave priority to an employee’s right to wear clothing with messages critical of their employer over an employer’s interest in its reputation with customers. In a case involving AT&T employees, the NLRB ruled that an employer violated the law when it prevented its service technicians, when visiting customer… Continue Reading
By Nelson Cary and Ashley Manfull on Posted in Employee Discipline,NLRBRecently, the NLRB, in a three-member panel of Chairman Pearce (D) and Members Hirozawa (D) and Johnson (R), ruled on more employee handbook provisions covering an expanse of topics including social media, employee conduct, and dress and grooming. In Boch Imports, Inc., the NLRB determined that the employer, a car dealer, violated the NLRA by… Continue Reading
By Allen Kinzer and George Stevens on Posted in Courts,NLRBOn January 16, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit gave a victory, of sorts, to an employer concerning company hats and uniforms. The Court of Appeals found that an employer might be able to lawfully enforce a uniform policy that requires employees to wear company hats, as long as the employer’s policy… Continue Reading
By Nelson Cary on Posted in NLRBBy Nelson Cary and James Pauley III A healthcare employer with six different locations recently found itself in hot water after banning employees from wearing stickers with the word “BUSTED” in bright red lettering; the NLRB found that the prohibition violated the NLRA. The employer banned the stickers in patient care areas in four of its… Continue Reading
By Nelson Cary on Posted in NLRBLast year, the NLRB held that AT&T could not prohibit its service technicians from wearing a t-shirt while visiting customer homes with the words “Inmate #” on the front and “Prisoner of AT$T” on the back. Last week, the General Counsel’s Division of Advice determined (pdf) that the New York State Public Employee Federation, a union,… Continue Reading
By Nelson Cary on Posted in NLRBOne of the key assets of any company is its customer base. Businesses spend a lot of money to build that base and the loyalty of that base to the company’s goods or services. Not surprisingly, businesses care about what their customers think about the company, and that includes the employees who deliver the goods or… Continue Reading
