OSHA suggests employer best practices for anti-retaliation programs

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has published recommended best practices to protect from retaliation employees who report workplace safety or other concerns under any of the 22 statutes OSHA enforces.

The document, entitled, Recommended Practices for Anti-Retaliation Programs [pdf], outlines five key elements of an effective anti-retaliation program:

Pets in your workplace? Assess the risks and draft a policy.

A reader recently emailed the following question:

Some people need service dogs to get to work. But many more simply want to take their dogs to work. What is the protocol? What are the HR rules on this? And what are the penalties for illegally taking a dog to work?

Are you thinking about opening up your business to employees’ pets? You will find very few resources on the internet to help. And, you will need a written policy before you allow pets in. Here are some considerations:

SCOTUS to review NLRB ban on class-action waivers

One of the biggest issues on the NLRB’s hit list over the past few years has been class-action waivers. In D.R. Horton, a 3-2 majority of the Board held that an arbitration agreement which requires employees to waive their right to collectively pursue employment-related claims in all forums (i.e., by giving up their right to file or join class or collective actions) violates employees’ rights under the National Labor Relations Act to engage in protected concerted activity. This issue is significant, as employers seek to use class-action waivers to combat the plague of wage-and-hour lawsuits.

In the four years since D.R. Horton, the NLRB has invalided hundreds of class-action waivers. On appeal, however, not all federal circuit courts have been kind to D.R. Horton. The 5th Circuit overturned D.R. Horton itself, while other circuits have sided with the NLRB on this important issue.

Now, the Supreme Court is poised to have the final say.

WIRTW #444 (the “training” edition)

The workplace training video. I hope yours go better than this example.


Here’s what I read this week:

… and an early contender for worst employer of the year

We already have a nominee for worst employee of 2017, so why not share the love and nominate a worst employer.

Drum roll…

Tread carefully if stripping employees of their pay

Wait, not this kind of stripping?

Stevens v. Oval Office (E.D. Wisc. 12/29/16) [hat tip: Walter Olson’s Overlawyered] poses an interesting question—is it ever permissible to dock an employee’s pay for disciplinary reasons? The fact that the plaintiffs are adult dancers docked for rule infractions such as “failing to fully remove all clothing, except for underwear, by the end of the first song when dancing on stage” doesn’t dissuade interest either.

Cleveland Clinic doctor feeling ill after anti-vax blog post stirs trouble

A wellness physician at the Cleveland Clinic is in hot water following his blog post on Cleveland.com, in which he argued that parents avoid vaccinating their children. The doctor, Daniel Neides, is the medical director and chief operating officer of the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute.

In his post, he attacked flu shots for children and questioned the safety of childhood vaccination schedules, citing a debunked link between vaccines and autism. His byline used the Cleveland Clinic’s logo and identifies him a Cleveland Clinic physician.