The National Labor Relations Board has been particularly active in scrutinizing company handbooks, and Macy’s handbook is no exception. The Board reviewed several of Macy’s policies, including a policy restricting employees’ use of information regarding their fellow employees and Macy’s customers. This policy limited confidential disclosure of “any information, which if known outside the Company,…

“THIS PLACE SUCKS!” Almost every employee has thought or said this in a moment of frustration in the workplace (except yours truly). A teacher at a private, non-profit, religious school recently yelled this to herself after being asked to provide documentation for reimbursement of expenses. Could a statement made to yourself form the basis for…

Companies have another worry to add to their plate – the Board’s increased propensity to award negotiation costs as a remedy for bad faith bargaining. The Board recently ruled that a company engaged in bad faith bargaining by: (i) refusing to submit proposals or counterproposals over eight bargaining sessions until the union submitted an entire…

A union recently tried to organize a bakery and café operator’s stores at Philadelphia International Airport. The employer promptly responded to the union organizing effort through employee meetings and a letter from the company’s CEO. In his letter, the CEO asked whether employees “really want a union to be your spokesperson instead of having a…

A nursing home informed geriatric nursing assistants that they would receive wage increases via letters that were sent one day before the union filed its petition for an election. The employees voted 28-33 against union representation – a company victory that would be short-lived. Though the letters were sent before the election petition was filed,…

We have reported on the SEIU’s campaign for $15-an-hour wages for fast food workers. Seeking to have franchisees pay nearly twice the minimum wage for historically minimum wage work is not the way to befriend fast food franchisees. Now, the SEIU is extending a proverbial french fry to franchisees in hopes of forming an alliance…