Employment Law

While unions have shown a resurgence in certain sectors, the overall percentage of U.S. workers who are members of a union dipped to 11.9% last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The onerous new 1099 reporting rules for business owners are finally off the books. President Obama signed the repeal into law on April 14. It repeals reporting requirements that were scheduled to take effect in 2012. The law also revokes new reporting rules for rental property landlords.

Employers everywhere must be extra cautious about discipline that could be construed as retaliation now that the U.S. Supreme Court has unanimously affirmed that the fiancé of a woman who filed an EEOC discrimination complaint was protected from retaliation by their mutual employer.

If your managers and supervisors respond to reference-check calls by offering negative information, they may be setting the company up for a lawsuit. That’s why the best practice is to refer all calls for reference checks to HR. Then, provide only the most basic information.

The labor relations tug-of-war in Wisconsin—pitting state government against unionized public employees—could go either way. It might sound the death knell of organized labor. Or it could spur renewed organizing by labor unions in all employment sectors. If your workers suddenly expressed an interest in union representation, would you know how to react?

Los Angeles sportswear manufacturer Tapout would have been better off paying up in the first place. All former employee Michelle Thomas originally wanted was overtime pay and some disputed commissions she said she had earned. But now that a California Superior Court jury in L.A. has ruled, Tapout is on the hook for $3.2 million, including $2.4 million in punitive damages.

Hourly employees generally know that if they work overtime, their employer has to pay them for the extra hours. That’s true, but that doesn’t mean employees can work OT whenever they feel like it. Here’s how to end unauthorized overtime:

A recent 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision highlights unexpected problems employers can face when gay employees are harassed because of their sexual orientation. The case—Dawson v. Entek International—illustrates what can go wrong when harassment occurs, HR is slow to respond and retaliation is alleged.

One of the few union organizing efforts in the fast-food business will get another chance. The Industrial Workers of the World lost an October 2010 unionization vote at Twin Cities area Jimmy John’s restaurants. But unfair labor practices charges against the franchisee who owns the 10 restaurants mean a new vote is likely in coming months.

Illinois’ new civil-union law—which gives new rights to same-sex and opposite-sex couples—goes into effect on June 1. It says couples united in civil unions are “entitled to the same legal obligations, responsibilities, protections and benefits as are afforded or recognized by the law of Illinois to spouses….”