Recently in HR & Employment Law Category

Union elections are officially in a state of flux. Just two weeks after becoming effective, a federal judge has tossed out the National Labor Relations Board's "quickie election rule." The rule, which business groups vehemently oppose, cuts the election timeline in half.

But instead of focusing on the substance of these changes, Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia focused on a procedural technicality. The quickie election rule is invalid because the Board failed to follow proper voting protocols.

A former in-house attorney is suing insurance giant AIG over allegedly racist in-house jokes that likened him to the 1970s cartoon character Fat Albert.

"Hey! Hey! Hey!" was the title character's catch phrase on "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids," a Saturday morning cartoon that ran from 1972 to the mid-1980s. Comedian Bill Cosby voiced Fat Albert, an obese black kid who ended each episode with a rock song.

But when uttered in the workplace, "Hey! Hey! Hey!" took on a totally different and offensive tone, the former assistant general counsel's Fat Albert lawsuit asserts.

Looking to fill job vacancies at your in-house department? Look no further than promoting your current employees, who will likely outperform external hires and can save you money, a new study suggests.

"My research documents some quite substantial costs to external hires and some substantial benefits to internal mobility," the study's author, Matthew Bidwell of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, said in a statement.

External hires may seem more attractive because they bring new skills or a new perspective to your in-house operation. But those benefits may not outweigh the costs, Bidwell warns. For example:

Now that the Senate has failed to pass a resolution and a judge has refused to issue an injunction, American businesses are officially subject to the National Labor Relations Board's new "quickie election" rule. As of Monday April 30, the rule became law.

The provisions are expected to shorten the time between the filing of a representation petition and a union election. Experts are predicting that the timeframe will drop from 56 days to about 30.

The D.C. Circuit has limited the authority of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue citations, overturning longstanding administrative precedent. OSHA may no longer cite employers for record-keeping violations that occurred more than 6 months prior.

The agency has long held that the OSH Act imposed a 5-year statute of limitations on such citations. But the court chose to strictly construe the law, which specifically states that "No citation may be issued after the expiration of six months following the occurrence of any violation."

Members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters have been planning for a Twinkies strike since January, when manufacturer Hostess Brands filed for bankruptcy. It has blamed high labor costs. On Tuesday, the probability of such a strike got higher, as the company headed to court.

Hostess Brands has asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain in White Plains, New York to toss its union contracts. If the company cannot change how it funds union pensions, management claims it will have no choice but to close company doors and liquidate Hostess assets

That would mean no Twinkies. Or Ding Dongs. Or Wonder Bread.

In-house counsel needs to be mindful of the consequences of employee discipline, particularly when it comes to unpaid suspensions.

While counsel doesn't always play the role of disciplining employees, it's very important to do a periodic review of Human Resource policies to make sure that legal concerns are adequately addressed.

So, what should you tell HR when it comes to unpaid suspensions?

How far can an employer go in limiting what its employees post on Facebook?

Employer-mandated Facebook policies are a hot topic lately. Now, a New York grocery chain is facing heat over its Facebook posting policies. 

A union representing several employees at Stop & Shop filed a petition with the National Labor Review Board to challenge their employer's Facebook posting policy, Reuters reports.

Providing an employment reference for a former employee is always a sticky situation. If the person responding to the request discloses too much information, the employer can end up being sued for defamation or tortious interference with prospective business relations.

But what if that person has disclosed too little information? What if the reference request is for a dangerous former employee? Is human resources obligated to disclose violent or other improper conduct?

Quite possibly yes.

Who owns a company employee’s Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook account? It may seem like an easy question. After all, an individual’s name is attached to his or her social media account.

It’s thought of as “Jane Doe’s Twitter,” or “Jane Doe’s LinkedIn Page.” Unless it has the company’s own name on it, the case of ownership seems simple. But maybe it’s really not.

And it’s something corporate attorneys might need to address.