Tag: Employment law

No paydirt yet: Northwestern players have ground to cover before unionization

Last week, we brought you an article about the UAW losing a recent election at VW and how it may be a sign of the end for the union. As unions struggle in some traditional areas, they are reaching out into previously uncharted territory, making headlines this week with the story of college football players […]

If Bill Cosby is wearing a garish sweater, this must be 1980s TV!

A few weeks ago, I saw a news story about how the last of the baby boomers are turning 50 in 2014. “Wow, that’s old,” I thought, until I realized that I’m 53. Then, as if I needed any further reminders of my elder statesmanship, one of the legal assistants in our office, a 20-something, […]

Keeping bad bosses at bay: How HR can make a difference

It’s an HR nightmare. A boss pressures an employee to lie, cheat, and steal as part of the job. Maybe that same boss also routinely yells and curses at employees or makes them work uncompensated overtime. There’s no excuse for it, but sometimes bosses behave badly, and they can do untold harm in the process. […]

Human rights complaint can hurt your reputation AND your bottom line

By David G. Wong Until recently, the damages awarded by Canadian human rights tribunals, courts, and arbitrators across the country for human rights violations were relatively modest. In the past few years, we have seen those awards increase, although not to an outrageous level. But that might all be changing, as two recent decisions out […]

termination

Selection show: seeding literature’s worst HR nightmares

March Madness always brings out our need to sort, rank, and compare. Personnel managers need not be any different and, since I’m nominally in charge of bringing literature to the discussion here and since we trace this blog’s heritage to speculating on Michael Scott’s employment law sins in The Office, let’s begin filling a bracket […]

Organized labor’s knockout punch

by John Neighbours Following the United Auto Workers’ (UAW) election loss at Volkswagen’s (VW) automobile plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka declared, “That was just round one” in organized labor’s southern strategy. From my perspective that is nothing more than “making lemonade out of lemons.”  Transplant automobile manufacturers have been locating plants throughout […]

EEOC Increases Fine for Notice Posting Failures

Beginning next month, employers can be fined $210 per incidence for failing to post notices required by federal nondiscrimination laws. The change, which raises the fine from $100 per incidence, was announced in the Federal Register Wednesday (29 C.F.R. Part 1601). It takes effect April 18. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, […]

Overtime rules: Changes on the way, but specifics scarce

Secretary of Labor Tom Perez has his orders. President Barack Obama on March 13 officially directed him to “modernize and streamline the existing overtime regulations.” The president’s directions further instruct the Department of Labor (DOL) to “address the changing nature of the workplace” and simplify the rules so that they will be “easier for both […]

Trash talk or abuse? NFL debates banning the N-word

In any other NFL offseason, with the hype over combine results all over the television and free agency in full swing, it’s likely many football fans might not notice the NFL Competition Committee meeting in the background. But this year, the committee is making news as it mulls over a controversial potential new rule that […]

Employee solicitation: Do you have any recourse?

By Sébastien Gobeil We have often reported on how Canadian courts enforce, or do not enforce, noncompete and nonsolicitation clauses. But those cases have focused on the solicitation of the former employer’s customers or clients. What happens when a former employee solicits your employees to leave, leading to a series of resignations? Do you have […]