Australia: 2014: The year that was – in workplace relations

2014 has been rife with changes and developments to the workplace relations landscape. It would be an almost impossible task to comprehensively list all of the year’s relevant developments. However, we have chosen some of them to highlight here as we say farewell to 2014 and look ahead to all that 2015 may bring.
Bullying
Possibly the most highly anticipated of new issues to hit the landscape this year was the establishment of the Fair Work […]

By | December 24th, 2014 ||

United States: An In-Depth Analysis Of The NLRB’s Decision To Permit Employees To Use Employer Email Systems For Union Organizing And Other Non-Work Purposes

The rights of employees under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act have been given quite the digital treatment over the last few years.  In its newest decision issued on December 11, 2014, the National Labor Relations Board ruled that “employee use of email for statutorily protected communications on nonworking time must presumptively be permitted by employers who have chosen to give employees access to their email systems.”  The full decision can be […]

By | December 24th, 2014 ||

United States: Bad Outlook: NLRB Rules That Employers Must Surrender Email Systems To Employees

On December 11, 2014, in a radical departure from settled National Labor Relations Board (the Board or NLRB) precedent, a sharply divided NLRB ruled in a 3-2 decision that a policy limiting the use of an employee’s work email to work-only purposes violated the National Labor Relations Act (the Act or NLRA). Purple Communications, Inc., 361 NLRB No. 126 (Dec. 11, 2014). If not overturned on appeal, this decision will have a major impact […]

By | December 24th, 2014 ||