The standard for determining joint employment status has been in a state of near-constant flux for more than 3 years. Both the National Labor Relations Board and the U.S. Dept. of Labor are interested in settling the joint-employer debate through rule making. What many believe would be smooth sailing could be heading towards rough tides now…

o ensure adequate staffing, employers faced with impending strikes often contract with employment agencies to supply temporary replacement workers. Typically, these agencies require employers to ensure employment of the replacements for multiple days, no matter how long the strike lasts. These contractual obligations often are a reason employers refuse to reinstate strikers at the end of…

In 2014 the Obama Board imposed several additional requirements for an employer to defer an unfair labor practice charge to a grievance-arbitration procedure and, thus, postpone or avoid litigating the charge. This decision imposed several types of burdens on employers, like allowing unions to “block” deferral in many situations.   The decision did not however…

A unit of 22 bus drivers for Columbia County’s “CC Rider” Transit Service voted to join Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757. Days later, the bus contractor employer – MTR Western – lawfully ended its contract with Columbia County. Seattle-based MTR, a non-union charter bus operator, outbid an incumbent union contractor last July to win a bus…

Non-Compete agreements between an employer and its bargaining unit employees are a mandatory subject of bargaining. However, employers do not need to bargain with the union representing those employees before signing agreements with third party companies to not hire the employer’s bargaining unit employees.   In Duke Energy Indiana, the union represented the employer’s linemen…

National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Peter Robb has expressed strong recommendations to give employees access to collect more damages after an arbitration or settlement. This is a stark departure from the otherwise pro-employer and red-tape cutting expectations of the Trump Administration. Currently, employers cannot use an arbitration agreement or settlement agreement to prevent an…