There have been several significant legal developments this year
from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) broadly affecting a
variety of employment-related issues, including union elections,
at-will employment, mandatory arbitration agreements and an
employee's right to engage in protected concerted activity via
social media.
These issues all revolve around whether such activities comply
with the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which makes it an
unfair labor practice for employers to interfere with or restrain
employees' rights to engage in concerted activities for their
mutual aid and protection. Keeping abreast of these and future NLRB
developments is essential for you to minimize your liability
resulting from such claims.
On Dec. 22, 2011, NLRB published a highly controversial new rule
significantly reducing the time between the filing of a
representation petition and the holding of an election, giving
employers little time to educate employees about their rights and
possible risks of unionization. The new rule also brought about
other union-friendly changes, including significant changes to the
procedure for challenging the voting unit. The new rule went...
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