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Employer Rule Mandating Courtesy Found Unlawful, by Barbara Halpin
Posted by Attorney Roger L. Pettit / Comments
One would think that an employer rule mandating its employees to be courteous would be good business practice. The NLRB, however, in Karl Knauz Motors, Inc. d/b/a Knauz BMW and Robert Becker, (Case 13-CA-046452) recently upheld a judge’s ruling that an employer’s rule mandating courtesy violated the National Labor Relations Act. The rule in the employee handbook stated,“Courtesy is the responsibility of every employee. Everyone is expected to be courteous, ...
Read MoreIn its First Ruling on a Social Media Policy, the NLRB Rules a Portion of Costco’s Policy Unlawful
Posted by Attorney Roger L. Pettit in Human Resources, Technology / Comments
On September 7th the NLRB, in Costco Wholesale Corporation and United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 371, Case 34–CA–012421, upheld the administrative judge’s ruling that some of Costco’s employee handbook policies violated Section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act (“Act”) but disagreed with the judge that Costco's social media policy was lawful.Among the rules the NLRB, in agreement with the judge, found unlawful were the following:(a) “unauthorized posting, ...
Read MoreNEW PARKING RULES MAY AFFECT YOU, by Roger L. Pettit
Posted by Attorney Roger L. Pettit / Comments
New guidelines have been issued by the Federal Government regarding the accessibility requirements in the Americans With Disabilities Act for public parking. The ADA accessibility guidelines not only affect local governments but private businesses and employers as well.Title III of the Americans With Disabilities Act (the Act) applies to places of public accommodation. The facilities must comply with new rules whenever alterations or new construction is made but these facilities ...
Read MoreNLRB CURTAILS EMPLOYER DISCRETION REGARDING DISCIPLINARY INVESTIGATIONS, by David A. McClurg
Posted by Attorney Roger L. Pettit / Comments
In yet another expansion of the NLRB’s view of the scope of “concerted protected activity” under Section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act (the "Act"), The Board recently held that an employer's instruction that employees not discuss matters under investigation with their co-workers violated the Act because it "had a reasonable tendency to coerce employees in the exercise of their rights" under the Act (i.e., the right to organize, ...
Read MoreFMLA Update: 7th Circuit Rules in Favor of Employee, By Barbara Halpin
Posted by Attorney Roger L. Pettit in Employer-Employee Relationship, Human Resources / Comments
On August 9th, the 7th Circuit in Pagel v. TIN, Inc. overturned the district court’s granting of summary judgment for an employer in an FMLA leave case which now enables the employee to take it to trial. The Plaintiff, Pagel, claimed that his employer violated the FMLA by interfering with his right to take leave under the Act and then retaliated against him for taking the leave.Pagel, a salesman for ...
Read More7th Circuit Affirms Jury's Verdict that School District Violated the ADA by Failing to Accommodate Seasonal Affective Disorder, by Barbara Halpin
Posted by Attorney Roger L. Pettit in Human Resources / Comments
The 7th Circuit recently affirmed a jury's decision that a Wisconsin school district violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for not accommodating a teacher's seasonal affective disorder.The teacher, Renae Ekstrand, sued the Somerset Wisconsin school district for failing to accommodate her disability. Initially, the jury held in favor of Ekstrand and subsequently the district moved for judgment as a matter of law challenging the sufficiency of the evidence. The district court denied the district’s ...
Read MoreDon’t Let Your Harassment Policy Gather Dust on a Shelf, by David McClurg
Posted by Attorney Roger L. Pettit in Human Resources / Comments
Some employers include a good anti-harassment policy in their Employee Handbook, and feel they’ve done all they need to do to protect themselves against sexual or racial harassment claims. In truth, a good policy is just the first step in a successful program to insulate an employer from harassment claims.In Mann v. Staples, Inc., a female employee received unwelcome comments about her appearance and physique, ...
Read MoreNLRB WANTS TO CHANGE BACKPAY AWARDS, by Roger L. Pettit
Posted by Attorney Roger L. Pettit in Human Resources / Comments
On July 21, 2012, the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) rendered a decision in Latino Express, Inc. and related cases. (13-CA-046528, 13-CA-046529 and 13-CA-046634.) The Board found that Latino Express violated Section 8(a)(1) and 3 of the Act in several ways and as pertinent to this post, the Board found the respondent discriminatorily discharged 2 employees.The Administrative Law Judge that heard the case awarded backpay to the discharged employees. The ...
Read MoreCritical Issues for Employers in the Wake of the Supreme Court Decision Upholding the Affordable Care Act, by David A. McClurg
Posted by Attorney Roger L. Pettit in Human Resources, Business Management / Comments
Now that the dust has settled on the Supreme Court’s decision largely upholding the constitutionality of the “Affordable Care Act,” or “Obamacare” as most Republican candidates are calling it, some of the important factors that employers should keep in mind for the remainder of 2012 and 2013 include:1. Small businesses with 25 or less employees that pay average annual wages below $50,000 and pay at least 50% of the total ...
Read MoreSocial Media Policies Part 2 - NLRB Issues Useful Example of Employer Policy
Posted by Attorney Roger L. Pettit in Business Management, Technology / Comments
Expanding on last week’s post, the NLRB’s memo found the following social media policies to be lawful (in addition to rules prohibiting discrimination or retaliation on social media websites that would also not be permissible in the workplace even if the behavior occurs afterhours on personal computers): First, an employer’s social media policy can require that employees are “respectful” on such sites as long as the employer's rules provide examples ...
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