Friday, December 12, 2008

WIRTW #59

I had planned on doing an elaborate post on the inherent risks to employers from holiday parties. The Connecticut Employment Law Blog and the Pennsylvania Labor & Employment Blog beat me to it. Click on through for some timely and helpful tips on managing liability risk at your holiday party.

Staying on the holiday theme, the Delaware Employment Law Blog asks if employees with families receive better treatment at work during the holiday season.

A few posts this week follow-up on earlier posts of mine:

  • Last month I reported on Anheuser-Busch, an NLRB decision that held that an employer can discipline employees for misconduct even though the employer learned of the misconduct by unlawful means (in that case, security cameras that the employer installed without bargaining with the labor union. Workplace Prof Blog reports that the D.C. Circuit has affirmed the NLRB’s decision.

  • Workplace Prof Blog also reports that the Republic Windows sit-in strike has ended, with each employee receiving eight weeks’ severance, all accrued vacation pay, and two months’ health care. For my earlier thoughts on this issue, go to Union sit-in illustrates WARN Act.

  • Last week’s WIRTW talked about the 10 things you should never put in an email. Roger Matus’ Death by Email follows up on his earlier list by giving us a checklist of 36 things to consider before hitting send.

The HR Lawyers Blog retorts that the bad economy has shifted employment lawyers from the employment agreement business into the severance agreement business. If you’re considering severance pay, also consider some severance benchmarking data presented by Compensation Force.

Workplace Privacy Counsel presents the first federal appellate court to uphold a termination based on content found on MySpace.

George’s Employment Blawg tells how to provide reasonable accommodation for employees with hearing impairments.

World of Work reports that Walmart has settled its Minnesota wage and hour case for $54.25 million.

The Evil HR Lady points out the dangers of operating without a written leave policy.

Finally, I present what has become a weekly roundup of Employee Free Choice Act posts:

  • LaborPains.org tells us that the SEIU has set aside an astounding $10 million to “unelect” any politician that changes his or her position on the EFCA. I’ll probably have more thoughts on this issue next week.

  • Workplace Horizons presents President Obama’s top 10 list for labor (are you surprised that the EFCA is number 1?).