What I’ve Been Reading This Week

Things were a bit uneventful this week, but a major union endorsement of Joe Biden has the potential to be a growing story as we get further into the election cycle.  As I note below, the endorsement itself does not come as much of a surprise and was somewhat inevitable.  However, as the coronavirus pandemic tapers off a bit (in some parts of the country) and attention begins to turn toward November’s election, I think we will likely see more attention paid to the labor and employment law related positions of Biden and President Donald Trump.

As always, below are a couple articles that caught my eye this week.


Joe Biden Receives Endorsement of AFL-CIO and Backs AB 5

How about we call this article from The Sacramento Bee a twofer?  Earlier this week, presumptive presidential Democratic nominee Joe Biden tweeted his support for Assembly Bill 5 (“AB 5”) on the same day that he received the backing of the AFL-CIO headed into the fall campaign for President.  I do not need to tell/remind readers how contentious things have gotten following the passage of AB 5 which codified the ABC Test to determine whether a worker in the state is an independent contractor or an employee.  Nor do I need to tell/remind readers that the AFL-CIO’s endorsement of Biden was somewhat of a foregone conclusion.  However, both are noteworthy in so much that Biden’s vocal support of AB 5 should embolden supporters of the legislation to press on as does the AFL-CIO’s endorsement serve as the expected start of a further coalescing of labor unions around Biden’s candidacy.


Using a Viral Moment to Review HR Investigations

Some readers might have heard of a particularly troubling situation that came out of New York City earlier this week involving two people in Central Park which was caught on video.  (I will leave readers to watch the video on their own.)  In short, based upon the conduct and actions of one of the individuals involved in the video, she was put on administrative leave shortly after the video went viral while her employer, Franklin Templeton, investigated the incident.  (Not long afterward, she was terminated.)   The tHRive Law & Consulting blog published an article on Tuesday and used that situation to remind employers and HR professionals of the importance of conducting investigations when confront with similar viral (or even “regular”) situations involving an employee.  As always, no situation or investigation is unique, but this article provides a few helpful reminders for employers to keep in mind going forward.

Overpayment of Employees in the Age of the Coronavirus: Tread Carefully

Suzanne Lucas wrote an article recently in which she noted a situation that occurred when Kroger’s (a grocery store) made a payroll error and overpaid several employees following the company offering “emergency pay” to its employees during the coronavirus pandemic.  These things happen, right?  As Lucas notes, the trouble arose when Kroger’s sent these overpaid employees a letter requesting repayment or “Failure to repay the overpayment could result in further collection efforts.” In any “regular” situation, this statement would likely not be well received.  However, with grocery store workers being recognized for their tireless work (and willingness to work despite the threat of the coronavirus) over the past few months, this statement was not well received when it became public.  It is worth noting that Kroger’s has now indicated it will not seek repayment from its employees that were overpaid.  However, Lucas writes that these sort of situations could be avoided with better communication (especially internally before it becomes broadcast on Twitter) and an understanding that taking a hard and fast line (that includes threats of legal action against employees for something that was not their wrongdoing, during a pandemic) might not be the wisest move.