Tag: NLRA

Exercise Aniston-esque restraint when analyzing offensive employee posts

by Ed Carlstedt This week’s employment law lesson comes to us from the movie Horrible Bosses. In the movie, Julia (played by Jennifer Aniston) is a dentist who employs dental assistant Dale (played by Charlie Day). After Julia uses her boss status to torture and torment Dale for most of the movie, Dale finally records […]

What is a Collective Bargaining Agreement?

As the name implies, collective bargaining involves negotiating (bargaining) on behalf of a group (collectively). In other words, it’s negotiating for changes for a group—in this case—employees of an organization or industry. The term “collective bargaining” usually refers to the negotiations that ensue between a union (representing the employees) and the representatives of the employer […]

NLRA Basics

NLRA stands for the National Labor Relations Act, which was enacted in 1935. The NLRA was created to protect the rights of both employees and employers by encouraging them to come to agreements through collective bargaining. It also served to stop harmful labor practices. It applies to most private employers[i], but it does not apply […]

NLRB dismisses petition to unionize Northwestern football players

Just how the dismissal of the petition to unionize some Northwestern University football players will affect other representation issues before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is uncertain, but one issue the Board didn’t touch is whether scholarship football players should be considered employees. The NLRB announced on August 17 that it had unanimously decided […]

Shhhh…Should Employees’ Salaries Be Kept Secret?

Picture this: A manager calls his subordinates into a conference room and asks them to write down their salary and pin it to a board for everyone to see. Just the idea of this is cringe worthy …and compelling. It was, in fact, the premise of the 2012 British reality television show “Show Me Your […]

Are employer codes of conduct meaningless in today’s NLRB climate?

by Michael J. Westcott Based on the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) recent attack on employer codes of conduct, employers need to rethink their approach to communicating to employees the kinds of conduct that are prohibited and expected in the workplace.  Weapon of choice: NLRA Section 7 Many “old school” employers provide employees with work […]