The public is generally familiar with the fact that Amazon.com, Google and other technology companies use computer programs and artificial intelligence to predict consumer behavior – think about the pop-up ads that seem targeted just to your interests. However, we recently learned that artificial intelligence (AI) recruiting tools may not be as robust in the hiring … Continue Reading
It is that time of year again – Holiday Party Season! What’s a party without alcohol, and what’s a law blog without a curmudgeon preaching moderation and reasonableness? (Paramount Pictures’ 2016 trailer for Office Christmas Party shows just how out of control these parties can get!) We all know the dangers of drinking and driving. Even … Continue Reading
It is that time of year again. According to a Society for Human Resources Management survey discussed in the South Florida Sun Sentinel, fewer employers plan to host a holiday party this year. However, many of those employers who are hosting a party plan to spend more this year, and sixty percent plan to serve … Continue Reading
First, there was Take Your Child to Work Day. Then, Take Your Dog to Work Day (yes, this is a real event that started in 1999) and now, there is “Take Your Parents to Work Day”. On November 6, 2014, LinkedIn is encouraging businesses across the globe to allow employees to bring their parents to … Continue Reading
Can You Hear Us Now? While there is no question that employee productivity is a concern for all employers, there is at least one study supporting the notion that short “smartphone” breaks during the workday may not only be inevitable but actually a good thing. A doctoral student at Kansas State University looked at the … Continue Reading
The explosion in popularity of social media has, in my opinion, been a blessing and a curse for businesses. On the one hand, social media helps businesses market products and services, and reach-out to current and potential customers, with relative ease and little cost. On the other hand, social media provides employees and customers with … Continue Reading
A NLRB judge recently ruled that a non-profit’s discharge of two employees for having an inappropriate conversation on Facebook about the non-profit did not run afoul of the National Labor Relations Act. Click here for copy of the case. On July 30, 2012, the non-profit, a corporation that ran an after school teen center in … Continue Reading
Am I the only blogger who has a problem with social media? My twelve year old is addicted to his smart phone and Instagram. I constantly get poked from Facebook users. I read with dismay how administrative law judges interpreting the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) have invalidated employers’ efforts to place some limits on … Continue Reading
The National Labor Relations Board Acting General Counsel Lafe E. Solomon issued his third report on employees’ social media use on May 30. We previously blogged about the first report (see NLRB Issues Guidance on Social Media Policies) and several other NLRB cases involving social media. This recent report focuses on the lawfulness of several … Continue Reading
We have been commenting on the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) recent decisions on the lawfulness of social media policies. An NLRB Administrative Law Judge recently struck down a portion of a company’s social media policy that prohibited employees from commenting on work-related legal matters without the express permission of the company’s legal department. The … Continue Reading
As another follow-up to our posts, NLRB OK’s Employee Bad-Mouthing on Social Media, Update: The NLRB Seesaws On Social Media Bad-Mouthing, NLRB Issues Guidance On Social Media Policies and Administrative Law Judge Recommends Employees Fired For Facebook Be Reinstated and Provided Loss of Pay, an Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) has made a recommendation on another … Continue Reading
For the first time, in Hispanics United of Buffalo, Inc., an Administrative Law Judge has found a violation of the National Labor Relations Act in a social media case brought by the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”). As addressed in the earlier post, NLRB OKs Employee Bad-Mouthing on Social Media, the General Counsel … Continue Reading
Yesterday, August 18, 2011, the National Labor Relations Board issued a 24-page memorandum summarizing the facts and outcome of the social media cases over the past year. Several of the cases included in the memorandum are discussed in earlier posts (NLRB OKs Employee Bad-Mouthing on Social Media, Update: The NLRB Seesaws On Social Media Bad-Mouthing). The introduction … Continue Reading
In the middle of the NLRB’s campaign to protect employees from disciplinary action for posting complaints about their employers on social media (see earlier post, NLRB OKs Employee Bad-Mouthing on Social Media), the NLRB has said that not all complaints are protected, even job-related complaints. The NLRB issued three memoranda in July stating that employers did not … Continue Reading
As discussed in an earlier post (NLRB OKs Employee Bad-Mouthing on Social Media), the National Labor Relations Board is not just in the business of regulating union activity. According to law, two or more employees (regardless of union affiliation) are protected in acting together to improve the conditions of their employment, including wages and hours. This is … Continue Reading
If you think you can fire an employee who bad mouths your company, think again. The National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) says it is ok for an employee to bad mouth an employer on social media web sites. Back in October 2010, the Board accused American Medical Response of Connecticut, Inc. (“AMR”) of wrongfully terminating … Continue Reading
