NLRA, State and Local Government

The WA Employee Free Choice Act – Washington’s Prohibition on Mandatory Employer Meetings about Religious, Political, and Union...

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 9/25/2024

Washington is one of eight states with a law prohibiting employers from holding mandatory meetings addressing their position on religion, politics, and union organizing. ...more

Talking politics: Is political speech in the workplace legally protected?

McAfee & Taft on 8/27/2024

With another presidential election only a few months away, escaping coverage and conversations about candidates and campaigns seems nearly impossible. While there is nothing new about political coverage increasing during an...more

California Assembly Committee Revives State’s Captive Audience Meeting Ban

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on 8/23/2024

On August 15, 2024, the Appropriations Committee of the California State Assembly passed SB 399 by a vote of 10–3. The bill had passed the Senate in 2023 and has been with the Assembly since, waiting for action and a vote....more

Washington State Bans Captive Audience Meetings

Perkins Coie on 6/28/2024

Washington state employers are now banned from holding “captive audience” meetings. So-called captive audience meetings are mandatory meetings held by employers during work hours to address activities protected by Section 7...more

Expect Focus - Volume III, September 2023

Carlton Fields on 10/11/2023

Regulators Hit Jackpot: Off-Channel Communications - Several years before announcing the first “off-channel” communications enforcement action, the SEC and FINRA cautioned broker-dealers and investment advisers about...more

Held Captive No More: New York Enacts Legislation Prohibiting Mandatory Meetings Regarding Employers’ Political (But Really Union)...

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 9/19/2023

Seyfarth Synopsis: On September 6, 2023, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law legislation that, effective immediately, prohibits employers from disciplining employees who refuse to participate in meetings concerning...more

Q2 Employment Law Updates: Non-Competes, Religious Accommodation and More

DarrowEverett LLP on 7/18/2023

So far, 2023 has been a wild ride for employers, a theme that looks to be continuing into the third quarter of the year. While certain predictions we made during Q1 came true in Q2 (we are looking at you, NLRB), others such...more

Employment Flash - June 2023

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP on 6/23/2023

New York, Minnesota and NLRB Act To Limit Noncompetes - New York Legislature Passes Bill To Ban Post-Employment Noncompetes - On June 20, 2023, the New York state Legislature passed a bill that bans post-employment...more

Emerging Issue: AI Governance

Lippes Mathias LLP on 4/4/2023

Advancements in Artificial Intelligence have dominated the news recently in fascinating ways. Generative AI chatbots demonstrated seemingly spontaneous responses to test users. Visual artists filed a class action lawsuit to...more

What Florida Employers Can Do When a Union Knocks on Their Door

Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC on 4/3/2023

When a union knocks on an employer's door, it can be a shock and awe experience for the unprepared employer. It is important for employers to understand their rights and obligations when dealing with unions to ensure that...more

2023 Employment Law Updates: Q1 Developments from Pregnancy to Polyamory

DarrowEverett LLP on 4/3/2023

As we discussed in our annual update back in December, employers continue to see extensive developments on the labor and employment front as they progress through 2023. Aside from the minimum wage increases, pay...more

Supreme Leak: Religion at Work

Verrill on 5/11/2022

Over the last year, our society has navigated COVID-19 and rules concerning vaccination and masking. As a society and on this blog, we have discussed regularly the role religious freedoms play in the work environment—under...more

NLRB to Decide Whether Misclassification Is Standalone Violation of the NLRA

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on 4/1/2022

The National Labor Relations Board (Board or NLRB) could reverse a 2019 decision holding that honest, albeit mistaken, classification decisions and announcements to employees do not violate the National Labor Relations Act...more

You Are Not on the List, Sir: Eleventh Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Right-to-Work Claim

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP on 2/3/2022

So, the union has an agreement with the company’s management that only those on their predetermined qualification list can be selected for a job. Would that list, or at least the administrative arm for that list, be...more

U.S. Department of Labor Announces Withdrawal of Trump-Era Independent Contractor Rule

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on 5/11/2021

On May 5, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced it is officially withdrawing, effective May 6, 2021, the rule promulgated under the Trump administration addressing the standard to determine whether an...more

New York’s Adult Use Cannabis Law: Embracing Labor Peace Agreements

Fox Rothschild LLP on 4/29/2021

New York’s industry-altering Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act includes an apparent mandate that cannabis retailers enter into, maintain and adhere to a “Labor Peace Agreement” with a labor union in order to legally grow,...more

Businesses in the Sunshine State are Prohibited from Requiring Vaccine Passport from Patrons and Customers

Littler on 4/6/2021

Vaccine passports—standardized credentials showing proof of vaccination—are gaining momentum in some states as a means of returning to normalcy and allowing businesses to open fully to those who prove they have been...more

AB 5 Contractor-Classification Battles Set to Heat Up in 2021

McDermott Will & Emery on 3/4/2021

Employers grappling with independent-contractor classification had a busy 2020—and should expect a flurry of additional activity this year. Few areas in employment law are changing as rapidly. Last year, many concerned about...more

NLRB Division of Advice Weighs in on Cannabis Workers

Foley Hoag LLP - Cannabis and the Law on 1/28/2021

As we previously blogged, “agricultural employees” are excluded from coverage under the federal National Labor Relations Act, which governs unionization. The National Labor Relations Board’s Division of Advice (which...more

SCOTUS to Consider Whether California Unconstitutionally “Takes” Private Property When It Compels Agricultural Employers to Grant...

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on 11/20/2020

When it comes to whether unions have a right to enter an employer’s premises over the employer’s objections, California’s law is the polar opposite of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and the law in most other states....more

California Court of Appeal Rules that Challenge to Google’s Confidentiality Agreements May Proceed Past the Pleading Stage

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on 10/29/2020

On September 21, 2020, in a published 2-1 opinion in Doe v. Google Inc., the California Court of Appeal (Dist. 1, Div. 4), permitted three current and former Google employees to proceed with their challenge of Google’s...more

The National Labor Relations Act › State and Local Government