Photo of James A. Burns, Jr.

In a recent article appearing in Illinois Banker magazine, “Beyond Social Media Policies: Have Other Common Employer Policies and Practices Been Struck Down by the National Labor Relations Board,” Reed Smith Chicago partner Jim Burns discusses some of the more aggressive positions that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has taken against certain common workplace

This post was also written by Daniel J. Moore.

On June 17, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) lacked the authority to issue any decisions during a 27-month period when it had only two members. New Process Steel, L.P. v. NLRB, No. 08-1457. The Court’s ruling effectively invalidates nearly 600 decisions issued by the two-member Board, leaving unclear how those cases will be resolved by a Board that is now back to a full five members, three of whom are generally expected to favor unions. Read a full copy of the Court’s decision.Continue Reading U.S. Supreme Court Voids Almost 600 Decisions Issued By Two-Member NLRB

This post was also written by Daniel J. Moore.

Just 10 days after taking office, President Obama signed Executive Order 13496, requiring all federal contractors and subcontractors to notify employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), including their right to join and support unions, and to include in every contract, subcontract, and purchase order, a pledge to honor the employee notice requirements. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has now issued its final rule implementing the Executive Order, specifying how contractors and subcontractors must comply with those requirements, including a poster describing employees’ rights and how they can file claims with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and the penalties employers will face if they fail to comply. The rule will take effect June 21, 2010.

Who Is Affected by Executive Order 13496?

Executive Order 13496 (“the Order”) affects contractors and subcontractors who contract or subcontract with a federal government agency and are covered under the NLRA. The Order does not apply to the federal government, state or local governments, labor unions, or employers who are covered by the Railway Labor Act. The Order also does not apply to prime contracts under the simplified acquisition threshold, currently set at $100,000, or subcontracts of $10,000 or less.Continue Reading Federal Contractors and Subcontractors Must Notify Employees of Right to Unionize

On April 7, 2010, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) issued the form employee affidavit that employers can use to claim a payroll tax credit for newly hired employees, made available under the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (“HIRE”) Act that was recently signed into law.

As noted in our earlier client alert on the HIRE

This week, President Obama signed into law a $17.6 billion jobs creation package passed by Congress, H.R. 2847, the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (“HIRE Act”). This legislation includes tax incentives for businesses to hire and retain the unemployed; extension of infrastructure programs affecting surface transportation, energy, and school construction projects; and continuation of

U.S. employers with 15 or more employees must post workplace notices to inform applicants and employees about their rights under federal anti-discrimination laws. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has recently published an updated version of its required “Equal Employment Opportunity is The Law” poster, updated to refer to the employment provisions of the Genetic

Seeking to impose dramatic changes in how employers are unionized and who writes an employer’s first contract with a union, Democrats in the House and Senate yesterday re-introduced the Employee Free Choice Act (“EFCA”). The bill (H.R. 1409, S. 560) is identical to legislation that passed the House in 2007 as H.R. 800.

EFCA would make three radical changes to the National Labor Relations Act:

  • First, the bill would permit unions to obtain certification through a mandatory card check reviewed by Regional Offices of the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”), rather than through a secret ballot election held and closely monitored by the Board. Predictably, the proposed legislation would not allow employees seeking decertification of a union to use such card check procedures; employees who wished to oust a union would instead be required to vote in an election.
  • Second, EFCA would allow an arbitration panel to write the first labor contract between an employer and a union where the parties themselves cannot do so. In particular, if the parties had not reached agreement on their own within 90 days, either side could ask the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service to mediate the contract and, if no contract was in effect 30 days later, an arbitration panel would step in and write the contract for the parties. Any such contract would remain in effect for two years.
  • Third, the bill would change the procedures and penalties for alleged violations arising out of union organizing campaigns. NLRB Regional Directors, acting at their own discretion, would be allowed to seek injunctive relief against employers for such alleged violations. The Board would be required to assess both back pay and double liquidated damages on employers who discharge employees during an organizing campaign. The Board would also have authority to assess a civil penalty of up to $20,000 per violation of Section 8(a)(1) or (3) of the Act that substantially interferes with the union organizational process during the period of organizing and, after certification or recognition of a union, until a first contract is signed.

Like its predecessor, EFCA requires that the Board certify a union once it finds that most of an employer’s employees in a unit appropriate for collective bargaining have signed valid authorization cards designating a particular union as their representative. In other words, if a union submitted cards to the Board signed by 50 percent plus one of the employees in an appropriate bargaining unit, the Board would be required to certify the union as the representative of all employees in that unit without holding any secret ballot election. The proposed legislation, like the prior bill, is silent on what sort of authorization cards would be valid, and directs the Board to develop language for such cards and procedures for determining their validity without setting any deadline for the Board to do so. The current House version of EFCA also does not indicate how traditional representation issues involving the scope and composition of bargaining units will be determined. Under current NLRB procedures, these issues are determined by means of a representation case hearing that results in a written decision by a Regional Director, which is subject to review by the NLRB.Continue Reading Organized Labor Gets Its Wish: Congress Introduces the Employee Free Choice Act

This post was also written by Vanessa K. Eisenmann.

Earlier this year, we reported that Congress was considering a large number of bills that would have imposed significant new burdens on how employers deal with employees. Two such bills—one outlawing genetic discrimination in employment and the other making significant changes to the Americans with Disabilities Act—were passed and signed into law. Considering the new political landscape, it is reasonable to assume that several of the others will be reintroduced in the 111th Congress, and that many of those bills will become law next year. The following previews major changes in employment legislation (in addition to the Employee Free Choice Act discussed in a separate Alert) that employers might expect to see in 2009.Continue Reading Employers Likely to Face Major Changes to Employment Laws in 2009

Yesterday, September 25, 2008, President Bush signed the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (“ADAAA”), which will expand the protections afforded by the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). The ADAAA passed the Senate by unanimous consent on September 11 and was approved by a voice vote in the House of Representatives less than a week later. Its significant changes to the ADA will take effect January 1, 2009.

The ADA prohibits discrimination against a qualified individual with a “disability,” defined as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the individual’s major life activities. The ADAAA is designed to reverse several rulings by the United States Supreme Court that the law describes as having improperly restricted ADA coverage by narrowly interpreting the term “disability.” In one such case, the Court held that when deciding whether an individual is protected by the ADA, courts need to take into account mitigating measures that might ameliorate the effects of the condition, such as medication or other treatment. In other cases, the Court strictly enforced the requirement that an impairment substantially limit a “major life activity” to be a covered disability, and narrowly construed what sort of activities would be considered “major life activities” for purposes of the ADA.Continue Reading Broad Expansion of ADA Rights Poised to Become Law

By overwhelming margins, the House and Senate have passed legislation that will prohibit discrimination in employment and medical insurance based on genetic information and tests. The White House has made clear that President Bush will sign the bill.

The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (“GINA” or the “Act”) will prohibit employers, employment agencies and labor unions