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What I’ve Been Reading This Week


Throughout the past few weeks, I have come across numerous articles dealing with how employers and employees are dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.  This week, I wanted to highlight an article that surmises how work from home might be on the cusp of being more acceptable for the foreseeable future (including once the pandemic ends.)  While all the below articles are worth a read, that one in particular worth checking out.

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



At the end of last month, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) issued a decision in 800 River Road Operating Co., LLC d/b/a Care One at New Milford, a decision that upends a 2016 NLRB ruling in Total Security Management Illinois 1, LLC.  In Total Security, the NLRB (which had a labor friendly tilt at the time) found that an employer is required to provide notice and an opportunity to bargain to a newly certified union on “serious” disciplinary action against represented employees, even before a collective bargaining agreement is agreed upon.  That decision upended nearly 80 years of precedent which had gone the other way.  Never fear, 800 River Road reverts back to the prior standard and allows employers to discipline employees without first notifying or bargaining with a newly certified union.



Morgan Hines over at USA Today recently wrote an article that noted an increased push among labor unions working to obtain better protections for workers at Disneyland, ahead of its eventual reopening.  Disneyland, located in Anaheim, had originally planned to open in the coming weeks but announced that it would indefinitely delay reopening as a result of an uptick in the coronavirus pandemic.  Last Saturday, the Coalition of Resort Labor Unions organized a “Disney Caravan for Safety” to bring attention to its request that Disneyland only reopen once it had taken steps to keep workers and guests safe amid the coronavirus pandemic.  I suspect that these labor unions will likely obtain some of their requests from Disneyland.  The thing that remains to be seen is whether the concessions these labor unions obtain becomes the new “floor” for what other employers will provide in the coming months as things start to reopen.



On Tuesday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed E-Verify legislation into law that will impact many employers in the state.  Under the legislation, all public employers as well as their private contractors will be required to use E-Verify.  (E-Verify is an online database that can confirm a worker’s eligibility to lawfully work in the United States.)  While Governor DeSantis had long sought for the legislation to apply to both public and private employers, that request fell short.  As a result, private employers will not be required to use E-Verify unless they have a contract with a public employer, apply for taxpayer funded incentives, or voluntarily choose to do so.  Supports and opponents of E-Verify can both claim victory here, in one form or another.



Greg Rosalsky at NPR penned a recent article in which he surmised that work from home arrangements that many employers have adopted the past few months might turn out to be the norm going forward.  (Granted, that might not come as a surprise to many readers.)  At the outset of the coronavirus pandemic, I had highlighted an article or two which surmised that work from home might become more commonplace.  Fast forward a few months in and I think employers and employees alike are seeing that work from home arrangements are actually effective.  For one thing, Rosalsky notes that productivity does not seem to take much of a dip.  As well, many employers are able to avoid the cost of pricey real estate by having their workforce work remotely.  Who knows how long it will be until a significant number of workers physically return to the workplace.  In the meantime, Rosalsky’s article paints an intriguing picture of how the work from home arrangements for many might exist going forward.

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