Posts in Social media.
A conversation about race
By Robin Shea on
Posted in Discrimination, Labor Relations, Retaliation, Social media

March 1

Dear Diary:

I start my new job as a Starbucks barista tomorrow. I am super-excited!!!!! I just hope I can handle the fast pace!

***

March 2

Dear Diary:

Wow! This job is hard! There is a lot to learn! But my supervisor, Xander, is super-nice (and cute, too!). When I accidentally gave a customer an Espresso Macchiato instead of a Cinnamon Dolce Latte, he said I shouldn't worry, because I ...

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EMPLOYMENT LAW BLOG CARNIVAL: April Fools' Edition
By Robin Shea on
Posted in Americans with Disabilities Act, Discrimination, eLaw, Employment Law Blog Carnival, ERISA, Family and Medical Leave Act, Gender Identity Discrimination, Labor Relations, Lactation, Protected Concerted Activity, Retaliation, Safety, Same-sex marriage, Social media, Wage-Hour

(St. Patrick's Day is sooooo nine hours ago!)

Ever looking to the future, we celebrate the coming April Fools' Day with this month's greatest employment law blog posts. Some of my summaries are accurate, and others are "fools' editions" - you'll have to read the actual posts to know which is which. There are so many excellent posts that I'm listing them in alphabetical order by ...

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This 'n' that from the world of the workplace
By Robin Shea on
Posted in Discrimination, eLaw, Equal Pay, Non-Competes, Social media, Violence

Religious accommodation, the Oscars, non-competes, social media, Brian Williams versus Bill O'Reilly, workplace violence, and inspirational employees -- we have it all today! Here are some links about recent news and court cases involving the workplace, followed by some points for discussion if you'd like to comment.

Supreme Court justices seem to side with hijab-wearer ...

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15 for '15: Employment and labor resolutions for the new year
By Robin Shea on
Posted in Affirmative Action, Affordable Care Act, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Americans with Disabilities Act, Background Checks, Discrimination, Drug Testing, Equal Pay, ERISA, Family and Medical Leave Act, Harassment, Independent Contractor, Labor Relations, Lactation, Pregnancy, Protected Concerted Activity, Safety, Social media, Wage-Hour

By David Phippen of our Metro D.C. Office.

While the year is still young, here are 15 New Year's resolutions that employers may want to make:

1. Make sure your "independent contractors" are really independent contractors. "Independent contractors" are under scrutiny by the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Department of Labor, the National Labor Relations Board, state and local agencies, plaintiffs' lawyers, and union organizers. A misclassification can cost you back taxes, back pay (including overtime), and back benefits, as well as penalties and interest. 

2. Review your email policies. The NLRB recently found that employees generally have a right to use employer email systems during non-working time in support of union organizing and concerted activity. The Board's decision means that many employer email use policies, as currently drafted, would probably be found to violate the National Labor Relations Act if an unfair labor practice charge were filed or a union tried to organize employees and argued that the employer's email policy interfered with the organizing efforts. In light of the new "quickie election" rule that the NLRB issued last month, both union and non-union employers would be well advised to review their email policies and revise as needed. (The "quickie election" rule is scheduled to take effect on April 14, but the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other employer groups, including the Society for Human Resources Management, filed suit on Monday seeking to block the rule.)

It's not too late to register for our webinar on the NLRB's new rules on "quickie elections" and employee email use. The webinar, featuring labor attorneys Tim Davis, Jonathan Martin, and Dan Murphy, is from noon to 1 p.m. Eastern tomorrow (January 8). Be there, or be square! 

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NLRB: Hot for the holidays
By Robin Shea on
Posted in Labor Relations, Social media, Uncategorized

The National Labor Relations Board is busy -- the Board came out late last week with a decision saying that employees can have access to their employers' email systems for organizing activities under most circumstances. David Phippen has the full story here.

Also, on Friday, the Board issued its final rule on "quickie elections." David is reviewing the new rule and will have a ...

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Top 10 Technology Blunders for Employers
By Robin Shea on
Posted in eLaw, Social media

I'd like to thank Sarah Phaff of our Macon, Georgia, office, who wrote this post with me.

As one who presumably has no nude selfies, you may not be too concerned about a “hack” like the one that continues to afflict celebrities like Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t still plenty of technology issues that an employer should look out for. Are you ...

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Who needs HR? We all do.

Posted in Affirmative Action, Americans with Disabilities Act, Background Checks, Blacklisting, Class actions, Defamation, Discrimination, Drug Testing, Equal Pay, Family and Medical Leave Act, Harassment, Labor Relations, Protected Concerted Activity, Retaliation, Safety, Settlements, Social media, Wage-Hour

An article by Lauren Weber and Rachel Feintzeig in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal caught a lot of attention -- it was about companies that have made the decision to do without a Human Resources function.

The idea drew some positive response on Twitter:

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EMPLOYEES: Keeping your settlement confidential is easy, so do it!
By Robin Shea on
Posted in Settlements, Social media

Employees who sue their employers and then settle -- can we talk?

Sometimes it's good to know what "the enemy" thinks. And, in relation to you, I am "the enemy" because I represent employers exclusively. However, some of my best friends are employees, and even though I'm on the other side, I hate to see employees shoot themselves in the feet. Especially when it's so easy to avoid doing so.

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Non-union employers should pay attention to the NLRB - here's why
By Robin Shea on
Posted in Alternative Dispute Resolution, Class actions, Labor Relations, Protected Concerted Activity, Social media, Violence

The National Labor Relations Board has taken the position that many garden-variety employment policies violate the law. These rulings place employers in a “Catch 22”—if employers rescind the policies, they could have trouble defending themselves in unemployment cases, wrongful termination lawsuits, or before government agencies like the Equal Employment Opportunity ...

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Twitter = How to get fired in 140 characters or less
By Robin Shea on
Posted in Defamation, Social media

As our firm's Marketing Department likes to say, "Think before you tweet." A staffer at MSNBC was fired yesterday because of a tweet that started a political firestorm.

The story involves Cheerios, biracial families, the Republican National Committee and MSNBC. (Sounds like the start of a joke . . .)

Last May, there was a really cute Cheerios commercial involving a biracial family.

(I ...

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Robin Shea has 30 years' experience in employment litigation, including Title VII and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act (including the Amendments Act). 
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