As reported on the Hunton Employment & Labor Perspectives blog, the NLRB’s Office of the General Counsel (“the General Counsel”) recently issued an internal directive regarding the manner in which NLRB Regions prosecute duty of fair representation charges against unions. Under the National Labor Relations Act, unions have a duty of fair representation to the members of the bargaining unit it represents by engaging in conduct that is not arbitrary, discriminatory or in bad faith, particularly with regard to the processing of worker grievances.
Continue Reading NLRB General Counsel Elevates Standard for Unions’ Duty of Fair Representation

Employers in the retail sector are constantly faced with the balancing act of relying on their workforce to operate a profitable business while also managing employees who are unable to work at full capacity due to an illness or disability. The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently issued an opinion shedding some light on when leave constitutes reasonable accommodation under the ADA.
Continue Reading Seventh Circuit Rejects Extended Leave as Reasonable Accommodation Under ADA

Recently, the EEOC has announced the approval of a revised EEO-1 report. In addition to the disclosures required currently, the Revised Report will require employers with 100 or more employees to provide compensation data and the number of hours worked by employees across 12 separate pay bands, categorized by gender, race and ethnicity.
Continue Reading EEOC Requires Disclosure of Pay Data in Revised EEO-1 Report

Recently, the federal government has highlighted the issue of religious discrimination and accommodation in the workplace. Given the diversity of most workplaces, especially retailers, employers should be particularly sensitive to the potential risks of religious discrimination and harassment claims, as well as its obligations to accommodate reasonable religious-based requests for workplace changes.
Continue Reading Government Raising Awareness Regarding Religious Discrimination in the Workplace