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Puzder Withdraws From Consideration For Secretary Of Labor

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
02/16/2017
Agency Activity, Labor Law, Political Appointments
Two months ago, nearly to the day, I wrote about Andrew Puzder’s nomination as Secretary of Labor in the Trump administration.  After having his confirmation hearings before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee pushed back four times, and with hearings finally set for today, Puzder withdrew from consideration yesterday afternoon. While supporters of the nomination touted Puzder’s business record as the owner of CKE...
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Court Permanently Enjoins DOL Persuader Rule

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
11/18/2016
Agency Activity, Labor Law, Union Activity
As we have previously reported,  in March 2016, the United States Department of Labor modified its 54 year old “Persuader Rule,” which applies to communication with employees regarding union activity. The proposed revisions significantly  restrict employer rights to be advised on how and what information can be disseminated to employees by providing burdensome reporting requirements on both the employer and the advisors -including...
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Fourth Circuit Affirms NLRB Finding That Nurses Are Not Supervisors

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
11/08/2016
Labor Law
In Palmetto Prince George Operating, LLC v. NLRB, No. 15-2143 (4th Cir. Nov. 1, 2016), the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a South Carolina nursing home to bargain with its nurses’ union. Palmetto, a provider of 24-7 nursing home care, employs 23 nurses -- six RNs and 17 LPNs.  Those nurses exercise authority over 40 certified nursing assistants (CNAs).  All of the nurses assess patients, answer patient calls, administer medications, and...
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Wells Fargo: Together We'll Go Far... Into The Abyss of Audit Hell

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
09/28/2016
Agency Activity, Labor Law, Wage & Hour
Unless you are a contestant who just returned from participating in the 33rd season of Survivor: Millenials v. Gen X (yes, I still watch this show -- Every. Single. Episode.), you have undoubtedly heard about the Wells Fargo credit card scandal.  Nearly 5300 employees were fired after it was uncovered that millions and millions of credit card accounts were fraudulently opened without customer permission because of intense corporate pressure to meet...
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Kroger's Discriminatory Enforcement of No-Solicitation Rule Violates NLRA

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
09/15/2016
Labor Law
Last Friday, a National Labor Relations Board administrative law judge found that the grocery chain Kroger  unlawfully banned non-employee union representatives from distributing petitions in a store parking lot.  Kroger Mid-Atlantic LP, N.L.R.B. A.L.J., No. 5-CA-155160 (Sept. 9, 2016). The issue arose after Kroger announced it was closing a location, but its workers were not offered transfers to new, non-unionized stores.  The workers were only...
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Labor Day Musings

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
09/05/2016
Labor Law
Twenty-nine years ago this week, on September 8, 1987, I began my legal career at the law firm then known as Venable, Baetjer & Howard. The late Sam Cook,  Chairman of the firm's Labor & Employment Department asked me if I had enjoyed my "Management Day" holiday the preceding day. Even since, I've had a special affinity for the first Monday in September, and today I offer some thoughts on a couple of trending topics in the world of labor...
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Yale Graduate Assistants Seek Union Elections in Ten Departments

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
09/01/2016
Labor Law
Less than a week after the National Labor Relations Board ruled that teaching assistants at private universities are employees under the National Labor Relations Act,  graduate assistants  in 10 Yale academic departments filed separate petitions for union elections with the Board.  The union seeking to represent the graduate assistants, UNITE HERE Local 33, is asking for separate elections under the NLRB's 2011 Specialty Healthcare decision, which...
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Colleges and Universities on Labor Board’s Hit Parade This Week

Darrell VanDeusen
Darrell VanDeusen
08/25/2016
Labor Law
School is nearly back in session. But rather than be satisfied with some new pens and notebooks, the NLRB’s “back to school list” is huge.  First, there was announcement of the Board’s decision in Columbia University, 364 NLRB No. 90 (Aug. 23, 2016) that graduate students are employees and can form unions.    The Board’s 3-1 decision reversed a 2004 decision that held just the opposite. Second, the Board released decisions in Seattle...
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Social Media Policy Violates NLRA, But Hold the Guacamole

Darrell VanDeusen
Darrell VanDeusen
08/22/2016
Labor Law, Social Media
Company restrictions of employee commentary on social media continue to be a problem in the eyes of the National Labor Relations Board.  In Chipotle Services, LLC, 362 N.L.R.B. No. 72 (August 18, 2016) the Board held that the company’s policy telling employees to be careful not to post “incomplete, confidential or inaccurate information” was an unfair labor practice.  This result should not surprise anyone who has been paying attention to...
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NLRB Issues Guidance on New Federal Contractor Reporting Obligations

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
07/21/2016
Labor Law
In the aftermath of the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order, which President Obama signed on July 31, 2014, the NLRB Office of General Counsel has issued guidance to its regions concerning the collection of additional information and reporting of certain federal contractors. Federal contractors and employment lawyers may recall that the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order requires the EEOC, DOL and NLRB to collect and provide to...
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