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A swine flu pandemic was a no-show this past spring, but there’s no guarantee it won’t come roaring back when the regular flu season gets under way this fall. Swine flu (also called the H1N1 virus) should be taken seriously because this particular strain hasn’t been seen before, so people haven’t built up natural immunity. […]
by Brian R. Garrison By now, most everyone has heard about organized labor’s biggest priority, the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) — an unprecedented attempt by labor unions to organize non-union employers. But while the EFCA has garnered the lion’s share of media attention, a recent less publicized change may have a similar impact on […]
The changes promised by the Obama administration are beginning to take hold at the federal agencies regulating the workplace. Typically, the change in leadership can be a strong predictor of the changes in policies and directions that will be pursued by a new administration. Not surprisingly, the changes that already have occurred suggest that we […]
Richard Luke was a maintenance engineer for Collotype Labels USA, Inc., a Napa manufacturer of wine and liquor labels. Luke was suspended for three days for allegedly violating an absence-related work rule. He disagreed with the suspension and handled it by emailing Nigel Vinecombe, the group managing director for Collotype’s Australia office. Luke titled the […]
Let’s face it. We’re living in a society that’s fascinated, if not obsessed, with the private lives of other people. As much as you may want to deny it, you know you’ve looked at the National Enquirer more than once — even if it was just while you were waiting in the grocery store checkout […]
To lower the risk of getting sued for sexual harassment, many companies have adopted nonfraternization policies, often focused on ensuring that romantic relationships, particularly those involving supervisors and their subordinates, don’t create a conflict of interest. Sometimes these policies are designed to avoid conflicts of interest with customers.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has recently decided two more “supervisor” cases under its new standard. The decisions are in addition to one the Board recently issued that shed some light on the often murky question of which employees are considered supervisors rather than “lead employees” under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). That […]
In a ruling that will have huge repercussions regarding union organizing, the National Labor Relations Board has set broader guidelines for determining whether an individual is a “supervisor” under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).