As pendulum swings far left, it’s ‘harder for employers to know what’s legal and illegal,’ says employment attorney
A years-long fight over the rights of fast-food workers might be reaching a climax this month, as state legislators revisit a bill brought forward by California union organizers that could force multi-billion-dollar franchise chains to take more responsibility for the treatment of workers.
The battle has union organizers and industry heads facing off in what could be a watershed moment for the rights of workers, Politico reported. Or it could be a wide-reaching economic disaster.
HRD spoke with Rob Boonin, labor and employment attorney with Dykema, to get his take.
“I have seen the pendulum swing back and forth in the past, but I've never seen it swing so far to the left as it has recently,” he said. “And that's just making it easier for unions to organize and harder for employers to know what's legal and what's illegal under the National Labor Relations Act.”
One example of this, says Boonin, is the August 2, 2023 Stericycle, Inc. and Teamsters Local 628 NLRB decision, reported in HRD earlier this month. Stericylce Inc. stated employers must consider the “chilling effect” their workplace policies can have on employees’ ability to form unions; in its decision, the Board stated “the employer’s intent in maintaining a rule is immaterial. Rather, if an employee could reasonably interpret the rule to have...
A Delhi court has acquitted SKS Ispat and Power Ltd and four others, including the brother of former Union minister Subodh Kant Sahay, in a case related to alleged irregularities in the allocation...