United States: Bad Outlook: NLRB Rules That Employers Must Surrender Email Systems To Employees

On December 11, 2014, in a radical departure from settled National Labor Relations Board (the Board or NLRB) precedent, a sharply divided NLRB ruled in a 3-2 decision that a policy limiting the use of an employee’s work email to work-only purposes violated the National Labor Relations Act (the Act or NLRA). Purple Communications, Inc., 361 NLRB No. 126 (Dec. 11, 2014). If not overturned on appeal, this decision will have a major impact […]

By | December 24th, 2014 ||

United States: NLRB Issues Final Rule Speeding Up Time Frame For Union Elections

On December 12, 2014, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) issued its long-awaited final rule amending its representation case procedures to shorten the time frame for holding union-representation elections and to require employers to provide more information about employees to unions. The final rule is the culmination of a process that began in 2011 when the Board first proposed wide-sweeping changes to the procedure for conducting union elections. The 2011 proposal […]

By | December 23rd, 2014 ||

Canada: Punching A Co-Worker Does Not Amount To Just Cause For Dismissal, Court Rules

Can your employee punch a co-worker in the face and avoid termination for just cause? The answer is yes, depending on how you handle the situation.

A recent decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice again raises the question of whether employers can effectively balance their duty to provide a safe workplace free from violence with the common law principles of proportionate discipline. In the Nov. 17, 2014 decision in Phanlouvong v. Northfield Metal […]

By | December 23rd, 2014 ||