Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
by Al Vreeland As with old girlfriends, we don’t always appreciate what we have in life until we don’t have it anymore. Employers have enjoyed pretty smooth sailing for almost a decade now. The feds have imposed relatively few new regulations, the courts have looked at most employment lawsuits with a skeptical eye, and unions […]
by Donald D. Berner and Forrest T. Rhodes The election of Barack Obama as the next president, coupled with the Democratic Party’s increased majority in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, is certain to bring changes. The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which President-elect Obama and Democratic congressional leaders vow to pass in […]
The current term of the U.S. Supreme Court provides a reminder that the drafters of the U.S. Constitution deliberately created a tension between continuity of law and responsiveness to changes in the majority’s wishes. We are on the cusp of a complete change in administration, with the likelihood of substantial changes in both statutory regime […]
by Brian P. Smeenk Wal-Mart, which has until now apparently been union-free, has had a union contract imposed on it in Quebec. The contract covers an auto center, Tire & Lube Express, which is part of a store in Gatineau, near the Ontario border. The small group of about eight employees apparently received union certification […]
by D. Michael Henthorne In this second part of a two-part series, I examine the unusual figurative relationship between union-free policy statements, the human nature of employees and employers, and a neglected utility closet. In the first article, I described a large utility closet located on the carport adjacent to my house. Once an ideal […]
by D. Michael Henthorne I’ve been asked to address a group of nursing managers in one of South Carolina’s leading hospital systems on avoiding labor unions and recognizing union-organizing activities. Despite growing up the son of a Teamster (my father was a truck driver), for most of the last 29 years I have lived in […]