On August 7, 2018, Missouri voters officially decided that Missouri will not join the majority of other states around the country to become a “right-to-work” (RTW) state. The controversial RTW issue, which Lewis Rice previously reported on here and here, emerged from a prolonged legislative process, only to be later overturned through Missouri’s rarely-invoked referendum process.
Following six years of uncertainty, employers now have assurance that class action waivers in arbitration agreements are enforceable and do not violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Since 2012, many employers who had entered into written agreements with employees to individually arbitrate employment disputes such as wage-hour claims, found certain courts disregarding such arbitration agreements and thereby allowing employees to bring class and collective actions regarding employee disputes. In a 5–4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, Case No. 16-285, resolved this uncertainty, holding that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) encourages enforcement of arbitration agreements and that agreements to arbitrate disputes through individualized arbitration proceedings do not violate the NLRA. Employees who have entered into class action waivers with their employers can no longer use the NLRA as a basis to evade their agreement to individually arbitrate their employment disputes.
On February 21, 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit issued an opinion upholding protections for union “salting” campaigns under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). A “salting” campaign involves union members’ recruiting potential members by applying for and accepting jobs at non-union work sites. In Aerotek Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board, four organizers of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Union (IBEW) applied for placement with Aerotek, Inc., a nationwide staffing agency based out of Omaha, Nebraska. The organizers planned to recruit members from Aerotek’s non-union job sites. Aerotek ignored and ultimately did not place any of the organizers. Upholding the decision of the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) determined that Aerotek’s refusal to place the union organizers violated the NLRA.
In a hotly contested political debate, including a veto by Maryland Governor Larry Hogan and its override by the Senate, Maryland has become the ninth state to require private employers to provide sick leave. Under the Healthy Working Families Act (HWFA), Maryland employers are required to provide “sick and safe leave” to employees. The new law took effect on February 11, 2018. Accordingly, employers with Maryland employees should take immediate action to comply.