Adam Santucci

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This case demonstrates not only that clear and effective employment policies can be crucial to supporting employment decisions, but also that preparing in advance for responding to claims and participating in administrative proceedings will afford employers the best opportunity to successfully challenge non-qualifying UC claims. The employer was successful in this case because it presented relevant witness testimony and policies at the hearing. Employers can control overall unemployment compensation costs, send the right message, and maintain the integrity of its workplace policies and standards of conduct by challenging UC claims when warranted and sufficiently preparing in advance when responding to claims and participating in UC proceedings.
Continue Reading Long-Term Employee Ineligible for UC Benefits for Violating Workplace Conduct Policies

As we previously reported, the National Labor Relations Board has thrown down some pretty significant roadblocks for employers attempting to conduct thorough and actionable internal investigations. The Board continued those efforts recently when it declared that an employer’s request that a union-covered employee sign his own witness statement at the conclusion of an interview…

Stop me if you have heard this one, an employee was upset about his pay rate…

Seriously, an employee upset about his pay was at the heart of a recent decision issued by the National Labor Relations Board that explored the protections afforded by the National Labor Relations Act (“Act”). The employee in question was hired to perform waterproofing duties on a project at a university in Ohio. The project was a public project, and therefore, it was covered by the applicable prevailing wage laws. The employee, however, was not happy about the prevailing wage rate that he received on the project, and essentially complained about his wage rate throughout the entire time he spent working on the project. In fact, as the foreman testified, the employee complained about basically everything during his brief tenure with the employer.
Continue Reading NLRB Finds that not all Whining and Complaining Protected by NLRA

Recently, McNees issued its annual White Paper: The National Labor Relations Board Year in Review.  Please click here to view the full White Paper. 

From the looks of it, 2013 was a very rough year for the National Labor Relations Board! Last year, we reported that the National Labor Relations Board would face some serious legal…

You may recall that we reported that United States Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) introduced the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which would adopt the reasonable accommodation framework of the Americans with Disabilities Act for pregnant workers and supplement the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. Although the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act appears to have stalled in Washington (for now), other pregnancy accommodation laws are popping up. Both New Jersey and the City of Philadelphia have recently passed such legislation.
Continue Reading Pregnancy Accommodation Laws Abound

In a recent decision, a class of correctional officers at a county correctional facility filed a class action lawsuit alleging that they were not compensated for time spent working before and after their scheduled shifts. The plaintiffs sought damages under both the Fair Labor Standards Act and Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act. The Court issued a decision that (1) dismissed the plaintiffs’ PMWA claims, but (2) granted the plaintiffs’ motion to conditionally certify a collective action based on their claims under the FLSA. The Court concluded that government entities were not covered by the PMWA and dismissed the plaintiffs’ state law claims. However, the Court also held that plaintiffs met their initial burden of showing that the proposed class members were similarly situated and conditionally certified the class for purposes of an FLSA collective action.
Continue Reading The FLSA Applies to Public Sector Employers, Too

So, have you implemented a Bring Your Own Device policy yet? If not (and your employees are using their personal devices for business purposes), your organization may be at risk.

The governor’s aide at the heart of the New Jersey bridge debacle used her personal Yahoo! email account to send the infamous emails which led to the closure of three lanes of the George Washington Bridge in September. Those emails were not initially provided in response to an open records request from a New Jersey newspaper. Should they have been disclosed?
Continue Reading BYOD Lessons From Jersey’s Bridge Scandal

Recently, Adam R. Long, a Member in McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC’s Labor and Employment Law Group prepared a White Paper regarding Wage and Hour Compliance Priorities for 2014.

Employers should conduct regular and comprehensive wage and hour audits that examine all facets of the employer’s pay practices to ensure compliance with the myriad wage and hour laws. That said, we recognize that HR professionals, in-house counsel, and senior management have very limited time and resources to devote to wage and hour compliance. This complimentary white paper discusses specific areas where employers should focus their wage and hour compliance efforts in 2014.
Continue Reading Wage and Hour Compliance Priorities for 2014