In D.R. Horton, a group of employees sued the Company for alleged wage and hour violations. The Company sought to dismiss the lawsuit because the employees had previously signed mandatory arbitration agreements prohibiting them from instituting concerted or class action lawsuits against the Company. The Board ruled in favor of the employees holding that mandatory…

Whether front line supervisors and working foremen are exempt from bargaining units is always a contentious issue during union election campaigns. They perform much the same work as rank-and-file employees, but have some managerial functions. Whether they meet the National Labor Relations Act’s Section 2(11) definition of a supervisor is evaluated on a case-by-case basis.…

The National Labor Relations Board struck down an off-duty access policy in a nursing home’s handbook that prohibited employees from hanging around after work unless they had previous permission from their supervisors because it violated employees’ Section 7 rights of the National Labor Relations Act. As written, the rule provided supervisors with unlimited discretion to…

In its continued effort to increase unionization rates, the NLRB will likely lessen the standard for finding companies are joint-employers, resulting in a myriad of results for both companies. Currently, employers that are legally separate but both exercise a significant degree of control over the same employees’ essential terms and conditions of employment may be…

During a union organizing campaign, one employee told another that if the Union did not get voted in and employees complained about their working conditions, she would punch them in the face. Another employee told three co-workers that if the Union did not get in she would damage the cars and injure the bodies of…

Under the National Labor Relations Act, employers may forbid employees from using company provided email and electronic communication systems for all non-business activities. Specifically, employees have no statutory right to use their Employer’s email system for Section 7 purposes, including union organizing activity. The NLRB’s General Counsel and the Communication Workers of America believe that…