This year saw a wide range of labor and employment law issues: We have had everything from proposals to drastically alter the NLRB and NLRA, Right to Work zones in Illinois, HR dilemmas over what to do when an employer requires employees to break the law, California passing legislation to provide labor protections to cheerleaders in the state, religious discrimination suits filed by television personalities, "unlimited" vacation days for Netflix employees, all the way to President Obama announcing his support of "Ban the Box" measures, Presidential candidates announcing support for minimum wage increases, and the first union election being upheld at a Target store in Brooklyn. And that only grazes the surface of some of the developments over the past twelve months!
I certainly appreciate readers following along with me as I track these emerging issues and point out trends that have developed. With this being the end of the year (and my final post for 2015), I wanted to highlight a few recent articles that deal with some of the major issues that arose over the course of this year.
As always, below are a few articles that caught my eye this week (and this year).
Back in November, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto issued an executive order that will raise the hourly minimum wage rate for all city employees to $15 per hour by 2021. It is important to note that non-city employees in Pittsburgh are not impacted by this executive order, however. With that being said, this executive order could spur the City Council to pass legislation to raise the minimum wage for additional workers in the city. For the time being, however, Pittsburgh joins a host of other cities that are set to clear the $15 per hour benchmark.
Lincolnshire, Illinois Approves Right to Work Zone
The Chicago Tribune has a note on the Lincolnshire, Illinois Village Board's recent approval of a right to work zone inside the village limits. Unsurprisingly, there were quite a few union members and supporters who made their displeasure known before the vote occurred. With that being said, the measure passed 5 - 1. While the right to work fight continues across the state, this is at least a minor victory for proponents of right to work zones (including the Illinois governor, Bruce Rauner). Stay tuned.
Ohio Governor John Kasich Signs Ban the Box Bill Into Law
Last week, Ohio Governor John Kasich signed a Ban the Box bill into law that will bar public employers from including questions on job applications that relate to an applicant's criminal background. This follows a 32 - 1 vote by the Ohio Senate earlier in December to approve a Ban the Box measure for public sector jobs. Note, however, that this new law does not apply to applicants that seek private employment.
Governor Kasich joins fellow Republican Governor, Chris Christie of New Jersey, (and also a fellow Republican candidate for President), as having taken a pro-active step to protect job applicants by approving Ban the Box legislation.
United Auto Workers File a Charge Against Volkswagen with the NLRB
Earlier last week, the United Auto Workers filed a charge with the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB") on the grounds that Volkswagen is violating an NLRB act by refusing to enter into a collective bargaining with a group of trade workers who voted to be represented by the union. For those who might remember, this comes almost two years after the union was defeated in an election that involved all hourly plant employees. (UAW Drops Objection to Union Vote at Volkswagen Plant). As of this point, Volkswagen has not made any comment as to the UAW charge. Interesting to see where this one goes.
Lincolnshire, Illinois Approves Right to Work Zone
The Chicago Tribune has a note on the Lincolnshire, Illinois Village Board's recent approval of a right to work zone inside the village limits. Unsurprisingly, there were quite a few union members and supporters who made their displeasure known before the vote occurred. With that being said, the measure passed 5 - 1. While the right to work fight continues across the state, this is at least a minor victory for proponents of right to work zones (including the Illinois governor, Bruce Rauner). Stay tuned.
Ohio Governor John Kasich Signs Ban the Box Bill Into Law
Last week, Ohio Governor John Kasich signed a Ban the Box bill into law that will bar public employers from including questions on job applications that relate to an applicant's criminal background. This follows a 32 - 1 vote by the Ohio Senate earlier in December to approve a Ban the Box measure for public sector jobs. Note, however, that this new law does not apply to applicants that seek private employment.
Governor Kasich joins fellow Republican Governor, Chris Christie of New Jersey, (and also a fellow Republican candidate for President), as having taken a pro-active step to protect job applicants by approving Ban the Box legislation.
United Auto Workers File a Charge Against Volkswagen with the NLRB
Earlier last week, the United Auto Workers filed a charge with the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB") on the grounds that Volkswagen is violating an NLRB act by refusing to enter into a collective bargaining with a group of trade workers who voted to be represented by the union. For those who might remember, this comes almost two years after the union was defeated in an election that involved all hourly plant employees. (UAW Drops Objection to Union Vote at Volkswagen Plant). As of this point, Volkswagen has not made any comment as to the UAW charge. Interesting to see where this one goes.
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