Skip to main content

What I’ve Been Reading This Week


Earlier this week, a regular reader of the blog brought to my attention an update following a recent lawsuit filed against Whole Foods in regard to what employees can/cannot wear while at work.  As noted below, the situation is still evolving but well worth leading things off this week.

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



Last month, I made note of a complaint that had been filed with the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) which alleged Whole Foods violated federal labor law by not allowing its workers to wear Black Lives Matter (“BLM”) face masks or apparel at work.  The complaint alleged that Whole Foods retaliated against workers that chose to do so.  However, Whole Foods recently responded and alleged that being forced to allow its workers to display BLM on their face masks or apparel would amount to a First Amendment violation.  The company went a step further and accused NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo (“Abruzzo”) of “unlawfully infringing upon and/or diluting WFM’s protected trademarks” by way of Abruzzo forcing Whole Foods to allow for political messaging on its uniforms.  This will be an interesting one to keep an eye on in the weeks and months ahead.



As reported by Brendan Case over at Bloomberg, Publix, the supermarket chain, has begun to offer paid parental leave to eligible full and part time employees.  While details are still somewhat sparse, Publix is offering these employees paid time off within the first year after the birth or adoption of a child.  With an already tight labor market, this is a noteworthy move by Publix to retain (and draw in) workers.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NLRB: Discussion Among Employees About Tip Pooling is Protected Concerted Activity

  This Advice Memorandum from the National Labor Relations Board’s Associate General Counsel, Jayme Sophir, addressed whether employees which discussed and complained about tip pooling at work constituted protected concerted activity. In relevant part, an employer in New York operated a chain of steakhouses.  While tip pooling was in place at these steakhouses, some of the employees objected to it on the grounds that it was not transparent and improperly divided tips among the workers.  Employees were told not to complain or talk to each other about the tip pool and were told that doing so would endanger their jobs.  Despite the employer later attempting to provide some clarity as to how the tips were being divided, rancor still existed among some employees.  At one point, the employees were told by a general manager that some employees that had been talking about the tip pool were “cleared out” and the employer would continue to do so. In the Advice Memorandum, it was noted that emplo
Post a Comment
Read more

Happening Tomorrow: Connecticut’s Minimum Wage Increases

For those employers and employees alike in Connecticut, mark your calendars as tomorrow, the minimum wage rate increases in the state from $13/hour to $14/hour. This wage hike comes after Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont had signed Public Act 19-4 into law in 2019 which progressively raised the state’s hourly minimum wage rate every year for five years.  In fact, next year, the hourly wage rate will top out at $15/hour.  Beginning in January of 2024, the hourly wage rate will be indexed to the employment cost index. For additional information:   https://portal.ct.gov/Office-of-the-Governor/News/Press-Releases/2022/06-2022/Governor-Lamont-Reminds-Residents-That-Minimum-Wage-Is-Scheduled-To-Increase-on-Friday
Post a Comment
Read more

What I’ve Been Reading This Week

A few years ago, I remember when the “Fight for $15” movement was taking off around the country.  Lo and behold, it appears that a $15/hour minimum wage is not the stopping point, which should be no surprise.  As the below article notes, New York is aggressively moving to ramp up hourly wage rates even higher.  While all the  below articles are worth a read, I called particular attention to that one. As always, below are a couple article that caught my eye this week. Disney World Workers Reject Latest Contract Offer Late last week, it was announced that workers at Disney World had rejected the most recent contract offer from the company, calling on their employer to do better.  As Brooks Barnes at The New York Times writes, the unions that represent about 32,000 workers at Disney World reported their members resoundingly rejected the 5 year contract offer which would have seen workers receive a 10% raise and retroactive increased back pay.  While Disney’s offer would have increased pa
Post a Comment
Read more