THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT AND YOU: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW. Presented by Brett Holubeck

Transcription

1 THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT AND YOU: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Presented by Brett Holubeck

2 To earn HRCI & SHRM Credit Stay on the webinar for the full 60 minutes Watch the webinar using your unique URL NOVAtime will review attendance records and certificates of attendance and Activity ID numbers to all attendees who meet the above requirements ATTENDEES WHO DO NOT STAY FOR 60 MINUTES OR USE THEIR UNIQUE URL WILL NOT RECEIVE CREDIT

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4 About Our Presenter Brett Holubeck Attorney with Cruickshank & Alaniz L.L.P. Earned his J.D. from University of Iowa, Masters from University of Nevada, Las Vegas and his B.A. from Ohio State. Supports clients facing investigations concerning wage and hours, discrimination, retaliation, and harassment charge by government agencies

5 What is the NLRA?

6 The NLRA Let s talk about the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) 1. The NLRA applies to all employees, whether or not they are unionized, except supervisors and independent contractors 2. Section 7 of the NLRA grants employees the right to: (1) form, join or assist unions; and (2) engage in concerted activity for their mutual aid and protection.

7 Concerted Protected Activity Concerted Activity: Two or more employees acting together to try to improve their wages, hours or conditions of employment Examples of Protected Concerted Activity include: Protesting to improve working conditions Criticizing working conditions or supervisors job performance Discussing wage rates, bonuses or employment benefits with other employees Bringing group complaints to management Initiating a discussion with a group of employees about a term or condition of employment Complaining about favoritism, managers or policies that affect employees

8 Regulatory Update

9 Workplace Rules The NLRA is aggressively enforced by the National Labor Relations Board ( NLRB or the Board ) Boeing Company case upended social media rules in December 2017 Workplace rules will be evaluated by balancing: The nature and extent of the potential impact on NLRA rights and; Legitimate justifications associated with the rule.

10 3 Categories of Employer Rules Lawful rules do not prohibit or interfere with protected rights or any potential interference is outweighed by the new rule. Rules that will be decided on a case-by-case basis Rules that are unlawful because the interference with protected rights is not outweighed by legitimate justification directly.

11 Class Action Waiver Supreme Court Murphy Oil vs. NLRB 5-4 decision Companies may use arbitration agreements that limit class actions and require individual arbitration No impact on government actions (NLRB, etc.) or cases brought under California s Private Attorney General Act.

12 Buffalo Wild Wings Class Action Waivers Facing more than 400 individual arbitration cases because they utilized class action waivers. Think about the kind of claims that you wish to put into a waiver.

13 Labor Laws: Joint Employer Standard Fixed, then Unfixed, now under Reconsideration again One of the recently appointed NLRB Board Members should have recused himself in a decision Back to the Browning-Ferris rules which focus on the potential to control rather than exercising actual control Only further underscores the recommended action: Have very clear contractual relationships with your staffing companies You are paying them keep them under your thumb

14 NLRB And Sexual Harassment Concerted Activity: Two or more employees acting together to try to improve their wages, hours or conditions of employment. Interference or retaliation with the concerted activity of complaining about harassment that affects more than one employee. Worse-cast scenario: employees who felt they were victims of unresolved sexual harassment after formally complaining, could quit work and allege that they were victims of a constructive discharge.

15 JANUS v. AFSCME Council 31 Affects public sector unions in 22 states (non-right-to-work) Concerns 1 st Amendment rights and whether agency fees are unconstitutional Wisconsin suffered a nearly 40% drop in union membership once it enacted right-to-work Political consequences: Right-to-work decreases Democratic presidential vote share by 3.5 percent

16 Personal Use of a Company Purple Communications held that employees have a presumptive right to use their employer s systems to engage in organizing or to discuss their mutual concerns about their employment. New general counsel of the NLRB issued a memo seeking review of this law, but no change has happened yet

17 Immigration Protest EZ Industrial Solutions, LLC ( EZ ) violated the NLRA by terminating 18 employees after they participated in the Day Without Immigrants protest in February The employer violated the NLRA by discriminatorily applying its attendance policy to the employees who participated in the protest.

18 UNION ORGANIZING BASICS

19 What You Can t Do and Say T I P S Threaten Interrogate Promise Spy

20 TIPS EXAMPLES Supervisor promises a pay increase if employees reject a union. A manager says that the facility will close if a union is formed. A supervisor goes to a bar at a hotel where a union meeting is being held and watches employees as they enter the hotel. A supervisor says that when he finds out who voted for the union he will demote them. A supervisor questions employees about when and where a union will meet.

21 KEY TAKEAWAYS

22 What Should You Do? Keep employees happy Low unemployment means that workers have more flexibility Never fire an employee that is handing out union cards. Consider class action waivers Don t discipline employees for discussing wages

23 Reasons Why Employees are Dissatisfied Inconsistent Treatment Deficient Supervision Unfair Treatment Concern over job security Concern over unfair pay

24 What Employees Want Supervisors: Employees: Good Wages Job Security Promotion Opportunities Good Working Conditions Interesting Work Personal Loyalty to Workers Tactful Discipline Full Appreciation of Work Sympathetic to Personal Problems Feeling In on Things Full Appreciation of Work Done Feeling In on Things Sympathetic to Personal Problems Job Security Good Wages Interesting Work Promotion Opportunities Personal Loyalty to Workers Good Working Conditions Tactful Discipline

25 CONCLUSION

26 How NOVAtime Can Help DOCUMENTATION Supervisors and Human Resources can Document and file any complaints or issues electronically. Supports FLSA weighted overtime calculation when employees work multiple jobs

27 How NOVAtime Can Help Employers FMLA request validation On-screen compliance form entry Administrators Configurable workflow / to-do list Reminders sent via notification engine Calendar / Analytics integration

28 How NOVAtime Can Help Supports automated overtime calculation Minimum wage enforcement Time tracking with audit trail of in-out punch locations If required, audit trail may be used to help prove compliance with regulations such as FMLA, ADA, FLSA, etc.

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31 Ongoing Education NOVAtime website: NOVAtime.com Customer Login User name = n0v@users Password = n0v@sch00l NOVAtime 5000 Online Help Ask me! I m Here to Help Thank you!

32 Thank You for Attending! Cruickshank & Alaniz Brett Holubeck State Hwy 249, Ste. 272 Houston, TX NOVAtime Technology, Inc. Kyle Glave, Account Manager 9680 Haven Avenue #200 Rancho Cucamonga, CA Phone: Phone: x-7152