Employers often require employees to sign agreements which include restrictive covenants.  “Restrictive covenants” include noncompete agreements, non-solicitation restrictions (prohibiting solicitation of customers and/or employees), and confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements. These agreements can be important to protect the employer from the employee working for a competitor, or disrupting customer relationships after the employer has invested in…

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) made two announcements recently that should be of concern to all employers with employees not represented by a union.  The first announcement was made by the NLRB General Counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, who announced that she will seek to overturn an employer’s ability to enforce mandatory employee meetings during an…

In light of current labor shortages, employers are paying higher wages and contemplating different benefits and working conditions that employees are now demanding.  One such benefit is an unlimited paid time off (PTO) policy.  An unlimited PTO policy allows employees to take as much paid time off as they desire as long as they complete…

Last week, I wrote a blog post predicting that President Biden may be requiring project labor agreements (PLAs) on projects funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Acts, effective November 15, 2021 (link here).  That prediction has now become reality.

On Friday, February 4, 2022, President Joe Biden signed Executive Order 14063 (EO…

As many construction contractors are aware, the new Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, effective on November 15, 2021, includes significant monies for transportation, roads, bridges, rail, and other infrastructure construction.  President Biden has encouraged public governmental agencies to use project labor agreements (PLAs) on these government-funded infrastructure projects.

What is a PLA?

A PLA requires…

Most of our readers are aware that on November 9, 2021, OSHA issued an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) requiring covered employers (employers with 100 or more employees) to require employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19.  The ETS allows employers to decide whether to adopt weekly COVID-19 testing and mask mandates in lieu of vaccinations.  On…

Update 11/8/21 –  On Saturday, a three-judge panel in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Louisiana issued a  stay of enforcement of the OSHA rule mandating vaccines for employees of large businesses. The ruling blocks the OSHA rule as outlined below. We are following the situation and will keep you updated.  …

Many employers are adopting a mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policy, or they are required by owners, contractors, developers, or state, local or federal government to adopt such a policy for employees working on particular projects.  The recognized exceptions to mandatory vaccination policies are for employees who have a medical condition, or employees who have a religious…

Several months ago, we settled an unfair labor practice charge filed by an employee against our client alleging retaliation for the employee’s protected concerted activity.  The employee had enlisted the support of other employees in challenging certain pay practices, and it was alleged that the charging party was terminated because of those efforts, rather than…