Can we talk? NLRBM finds T-Mobile violated labor laws by preventing workers from talking about sexual harassment
Read it here.
Category: Employment Law
Tipped Workers Deserve To Be Paid Like Everyone Else
Read it here. Could you live on $3.75 an hour? Would you be willing to demand that your boss pay you an additional $3.75 in tips to bring you to the state minimum wage of $7.50 an hour? What would you do if your boss didn’t make up the difference? Would you be willing to…
“Volunteer” Or Go To Solitary Confinement?
By Guest Blogger Andy Schmidt. Andy Schmidt is a workers’ rights attorney in Portland. He can be reached at andy@maineworkerjustice.com. Read it here. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement puts people in “detention centers” based on alleged immigration violations. A Federal judge in Colorado recently ruled in favor of my detainee clients in a case that…
New Overtime Rules: Work Less, Earn More
Read it here. A “notice of proposed rule-making” by the Department of Labor typically isn’t the kind of thing that gets people excited. (I hope I haven’t already lost you at “notice of proposed rulemaking” – trust me, this gets more interesting). This week, the Department of Labor proposed new rules that millions of workers…
Award of unemployment benefits to FairPoint strikers just result
Read it here. Should employees who go out on strike against their employer receive unemployment benefits? Wouldn’t an award of unemployment benefits prolong labor disputes and unfairly tip the scales of justice in favor of employees over employers? These questions—and more—were raised by claims filed by strikers who participated in the 18-week strike last fall…
“Workcationland”?
Read it here. First, there was the vacation. Then, with the great recession came lots of talk of the “staycation.” Take the kids to that local museum you’re always vowing to go to, set up the beach chairs and tent in the backyard, or dive into a binge session of Netflix. Not quite the same…
Changes to Abercrombie’s “Look”
Read it here. Justice Scalia has not always been the most stalwart supporter of workers’ civil rights in his years on the Supreme Court. But on June 1 he delivered a nearly unanimous (8-1) opinion ruling in favor of a young Muslim woman who was denied a position at Abercrombie because her head scarf did…
You can be what you are: Caitlyn Jenner
Read it here. Is anyone talking about anything other than the Caitlyn Jenner cover of Vanity Fair? For months it had been rumored that Bruce Jenner, 1976 Olympic decathlon gold medal winner and arguably the greatest athlete of the modern era , was going to come out as a woman. Transgender people, while increasingly in…
Will robots take YOUR job?
Read it here. For decades, there have been stories – both real and imagined – about human workers being replaced by machines. You only have to Google “humans replaced by robots” to see scores of headlines about what will happen when robots take our jobs. Articles report that “Robots are replacing us faster than we…
The thrill is gone; did Deflategate taint Pats Super Bowl victory?
Read it here. For the last week, we’ve been inundated with coverage about Deflategate and the NFL’s decision to suspend golden boy quarterback Tom Brady for four games, fine the Patriots $1 million, and take away two top draft picks. In case you somehow missed it (and if you did, you must be still stuck…