In the much anticipated Columbia University decision, the National Labor Relations Board reversed its most recent precedent and held that student teaching assistants at private colleges and universities are statutory employees under the National Labor Relations Act and may therefore vote to form a union. This decision is a return to an earlier decision by
You are not the boss of me…or ARE you?
On August 27, 2015 the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), in a high-impact, 3-2 decision along party lines, handed labor unions a significant advantage in their enforcement of collective bargaining laws by significantly modifying its longstanding “joint employer” standard. The ruling will surely leave countless businesses potentially liable for violations of labor laws committed by
The New School graduate students seek review of dismissal of petition
In a decision issued on February 6, 2015 the Regional Director of the National Labor Relations Board, Region 2, dismissed a petition for union representation with The New School filed by a putative labor organization, Student Employees at The New School (SENS), which is affiliated with the UAW.
SENS filed its petition for recognition as
NLRB passes on football players’ employee status
On August 17, 2015, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) declined to assert jurisdiction to determine whether the Northwestern University (Northwestern) scholarship football players should be considered employees under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).
In April, we reported that the Regional Director of Region 13 of the NLRB found that scholarship football players from
The new college landscape: unionizing grad students
In a matter that could have far-reaching implications for private universities throughout the US, the NLRB’s Regional Director for Region 2 dismissed a petition filed by graduate students of The New School in New York City, New York in which they sought to form a union in affiliation with the United Auto Workers (UAW).
Who’s reading your email? Purple Communications and fighting the urge to cyber-spy
This month, a divided National Labor Relations Board held in Purple Communications, Inc. that employees have the right to use their employer-provided business email accounts for non-work purposes during non-work hours. In doing so, the Board reversed a 2007 precedent equating email with any other employer-owned property—seeing email as not much more than a real-life
Are scholarship football players employees? NLRB to hear appeal and take comments
Earlier this year, the Regional Director of Region 13 of the NLRB found that scholarship football players at Northwestern University are “employees” under Section 2(3) of the National Labor Relations Act. Northwestern University v. College Athletes Players Association, Case 13-RC-121359 (N.L.R.B. Mar. 26, 2014).
The Regional Director’s decision turned largely on the amount of
Does your social media policy pass muster with the NLRB?
Venting around the water cooler has been a way of life in most companies, but with the advent of social media, those gripes have moved online where the audience size is so much greater. In fact, I dare say that if some of your employees had work place issues yesterday, they have probably already written