Unions

Is EFCA on Life Support...

BarbieW — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 18:11:51 GMT

After the panic over EFCA earlier this year, it seems like things have quieted way down (if you don't pay attention to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and national union ads). It doesn't seem like this is on the front burner with Congress any more. Does anyone have different information?

salary slashed to compensate fiscal plan

paltieri2 — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 23:40:33 GMT

I am a salaried employee in our local school district. On July 1st our salary was reduced by 1/26th to accomodate for a 53 week FY vs. a 52 week FY. The explanation we were given was that because we will receive 27 pays instead of 26, the salary was reduced. However, THAT 27th paycheck is essentially the 1st paycheck of the following FY. There will be no additional paycheck for the FY in question. If you're following me, is this a legal practice or are we basically being railroaded?

Solicitation policies

king92 — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 16:14:08 GMT

Is there a way to have a valid solicitation policy in place that would still allow the company to support local school and community activities (if solicited by employees, not non-employees) and if 100% of contributions go to the organization? i.e. fundraisers for children of employees like soccer clubs, girl scout cookies, boy scout popcorn, etc.

Employee Free Choice Act

BarbieW — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:30:48 GMT

Everywhere I turn lately, I'm reading about the Employee Free Choice Act. Did something happen with this bill? I thought it was voted down in the Senate. I'm thinking all the press is related to thinking that it will be law if we have a Dem President and majorities in both houses. Anyone know of anything else triggering all this news?

Secretary Solis

fisHRman — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:32:44 GMT

Hey, now that Hilda Solis has been confirmed as Labor Secretary, how fast do you think she will act on pro-union issues that were discussed during the presidential campaign? Any ideas on other things on her agenda?

Interview questions to ask potential candidates

lashefHR — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:25:48 GMT

Does anyone have some suggestions on questions we can ask candidates who are interviewing for a job where employees are going to go on strike in the coming months.

An example that I am looking for is something like "Have you ever worked in a Union before"

Thanks

Women in Charge

BarbieW — Tue, 27 May 2008 16:32:26 GMT

I just read an article from the Washington Post indicating that 3 women will soon hold the top positions in the largest labor union--a crack in the glass ceiling! I'm wondering how everyone thinks women in these key positions will affect the labor movement, especially in a Democratic administration.

NLRA

IT HR — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 17:06:52 GMT

I know there has been some threads before about the NLRA and whether an act by an employer is illegal because it is restricting an employees' "concerted activities."

I just read this article that I thought I would pass along. It is pretty eye opening about the rights of the NLRA to trump other laws.

http://www.laborlawyers.com/showarticle.aspx?Ref=list&Type=1119&Cat=3386&Show=10269

What do you think about this?

Moving from Training to HR Generalist

bailetat — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 19:19:45 GMT

What are some key experiences/skills one would need to be more marketable in a HR Generalist role. I am currently a training professional with 10 years experience (4 in mgmt), but want to move into more of a generalist role. Your insight is appreciated.

Email and Unions

BarbieW — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 17:01:27 GMT

I've been reading about the NLRB decision on company email being used for union solicitation. I'm interested in what people think this means for the policies at their companies. Are you changing your email policy? Can we allow some personal use but strictly prohibit solicitation for any purpose?

Campaign Strategy

BarbieW — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 20:59:01 GMT

We have a union organizing campaign getting started and a couple of employees are really at the center of the campaign. They are using company email for this purpose. Can we discipline them for using the email this way? How about for talking to other employees about it on company time? Why should the company have to pay for the time they spend causing trouble? Also, we have another union representing employees in another department--can we work this out so there is only one union?

Soliciatation Policies

dfox — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:06:03 GMT

Our Health Committee recently conducted a health fair. During the health fair, they invited several vendors to attend. Two of the vendors were banks soliciting for clients. We are concerned that we have opened the door to union solicitations because we allowed thes vendors in the door. What do you think?

NLRB Hiring Decision

BarbieW — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 18:16:25 GMT

I was happy to see the NLRB take a stand on salting and hiring discrimination based on union involvement. Nice that the salt now has to prove that he or she actually wanted the job and wasn't just interested in organizing.

I-9 Subject of Bargaining?

BKate — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 12:43:54 GMT

My company recently acquired another company that currently has a union contract in place for a large percentage of the workers. We want to complete I-9 forms for the employees in this company, requiring them to produce the appropriate documents, so we can be sure our paperwork is in order. The union representatives have said that we cannot require the employees to produce documents since they completed forms when they were hired to work at the company. We know we can require the completion of new forms legally, but is this a subject of mandatory bargaining? Has anyone dealt with this before?

Appealing an Arbitration

BarbieW — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 13:26:12 GMT

Does anyone have experience with appealing an arbitration decision? We just got a decision from a panel reinstating an employee and I'm curious if anyone has had luck appealing one--do they every get reversed? We really don't want this person back.

Thanks

Decertification

HRinLA — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 21:06:41 GMT

Can someone tell me how decertification is done? An employee asked me if there was a way for the Union to get kicked out. I told him that as an employer I shouldn't even engage in the conversation, but that it is not up to the employer to decertify a Union. I advised the employee to research his own options if he wanted.

However, I'm genuinely curious. Can a person just go to a meeting and request that a vote happen? What percentage of people is required to actually disolve the CBA?

Authorization Cards

Bridget1 — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 16:30:39 GMT

What is the next step when an employer has been presented with an authorization card (for a union)?

Employee Free Choice Act

hr410 — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 13:33:01 GMT

For those of you who are interested in Union issues, I thought this write up on the Employee Free Choice Act was interesting. . . .http://www.mbf-law.com/resources/publications/1913.pdf , especially the piece on the effect the Act may have on non-unionized workplaces. Sounds like it could be pretty impactful.

Unions Against Religious Beliefs

sdiconza — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 17:07:22 GMT

We have an employee who refuses to join the union because he says it violates his religious (not political) practice to not join or affiliate with outside organizations. I honestly don't know what religion this employee is, nor have I asked for fear of pushing him too far. Although this is currently between him and the union, I am curious if anyone has dealt with this issue before. My guess is that a legitimate religious belief will trump a union, but wasn't sure if this issue has been tested before.

Any ideas? Thanks!

Union Buttons

GoPatsNH — Mon, 21 May 2007 18:19:35 GMT

Hi all...so, a few of my employees are on a union organizing kick and came in wearing union buttons. Do I have to allow this? We are a very customer oriented business, and I don't want our customers getting the wrong idea...Thanks!

Union Membership

BKate — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 19:52:53 GMT

Our company has a union contract and I have only recently been involved in union-related issues. We recently hired an employee who has refused to join the union even though he is part of the bargaining unit? Can an employee opt out of the union? Will he be required to pay any dues to the union even though he isn't a member?

Employee Grievance Committee

Jake2 — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 15:15:47 GMT

We are currently not unionized. We have a group of employees who are forming an "employee grievance committee" to voice concerns that employees have over what they call "working conditions."

What I know so far is that they want a bigger lunchroom, increased benefits, vacation, and more pay. I think the employees have a right to do whatever they want off of company time, but can they meet on company time, etc? When does this become a union? This seems extreme, especially since we are willing to talk to the employees and see if there are some common points that we can agree on. However, I just want to know what I have to do to address this developing situation . . . any help would really be appreciated.

Workforce organizers

hr410 — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 14:42:49 GMT

Anyone have pointers on how to legally address a request for union organizers to have access to company property (i.e., lunchroom talks and handing out pamplets)? We are currently not unionized and this is the first time we have dealt with such a request. Any help is sincerely appreciated -thanks.

Representation in a nonunion workplace?

NYGiants — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 20:25:25 GMT

We are a nonunion workplace. Does an employee have the right to have a "representative" (co-worker, relative, lawyer) present during a disciplinary meeting? This meeting is the final step prior to discharge. Any one have experience with this type of request?

Thanks.

Discussing Pay at Work

sdiconza — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 17:41:42 GMT

I heard that it is against the law to make a policy prohibiting employees from discussing their pay (i.e., exactly how much they get paid) with eachother at work. I believe it has something to do with union organizing. we find that these discussions never end well - someone is always disappointed, disgruntled or downright mad after finding out what a co-worker makes. Are we allowed to prohibit pay/salary discussions in the workplace?