"Due to the 6.8% inflation rate, all US workers are entitled to at least a 6.8% pay adjustment. We have received reports of some ABUSIVE EMPLOYERS not providing these adjustments. If you have not received such a raise, please ask your employer why your PAY WAS CUT.""WHAT TO DO ON A BREAK TODAY: (1) Talk about your PAY. (2) Talk about your RIGHTS. (3) Begin ORGANIZING A UNION. GOOD employers are not afraid of these, but ABUSIVE ones are.""You have a protected LEGAL RIGHT to discuss your pay with your coworkers. This should be done on a regular basis to ensure that everyone is being paid fairly. It is ILLEGAL for your employer to punish your for doing this."
Wednesday, April 13, 2022
Protected concerted activity is an opportunity to engage with your employees, not to retaliate against them
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, April 12, 2022
“Salting” the wounds of labor organizing
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Monday, April 11, 2022
Why I’m anti-union
“Jon, why are you anti-union?”
I’ve received this question a lot lately. Between all of my posts about the need for all employers (including craft breweries) to pay attention to the recent wave of union organizing, and my philosophy of workplace management that focuses on positive culture and positive treatment of workers, many have asked why I oppose labor unions.
Let me explain.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, April 8, 2022
WIRTW #620: the “straws” edition
Do you know? Non-plastic straws, such as those made of paper or plant material, can include wheat as a binder? Norah discovered this fact after we returned from our recent family Spring Break vacation to Hollywood, Florida. Her brother, Donovan, who has Celiac Disease, got glutened on our trip and we couldn’t figure out the source.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, April 7, 2022
Don’t confuse “tips” and “service charges” for hospitality employees
How often have you looked at you bill at a restaurant and have seen an added service fee? Do you think to yourself, "No need to tip; it's already been added to the bill."
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, April 6, 2022
Are you an ally, or are you just afraid of being canceled?
I tell my students, "When you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else. This is not just a grab-bag candy game."
I think of this quote often when I think about what it means to be an ally at work.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, April 5, 2022
Anti-union vs. Anti-worker
Tomorrow at 5 pm I'm participating in an online panel discussing fair compensation in the craft beer industry. It's part of the Craft Beer Professionals Spring Virtual Conference (register here).
Some members of the group, however, are objecting to my participation. They take issue with my recent posts about union organizing, and more specifically union organizing in the craft beer industry. They claim that "anti-union" (which I am) is the same as "anti-worker" (which I definitely am not). They argue that my anti-union views bar my seat at the fair compensation table — that I'm cannot opine on fair compensation because I'm anti-worker.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, April 4, 2022
The biggest workplace story of 2022
Last Friday, workers won the first-ever union election at an Amazon warehouse (a fulfillment center in Staten Island, New York). This is the biggest workplace story of the year, and it won't even be close.
Here's why.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, March 25, 2022
WIRTW #619: the “update” edition
To wrap things up this week, I thought I'd update two stories.
1/ UCLA Unpaid Job Posting
In addition to taking down the offensive job posting, UCLA tweeted this update.
Had UCLA included some of this reasonable explanation as part of its job posting, it could have avoided being excoriated online.
2/ Brienne Allan
Brienne, now of Brave Noise Beer, recently appeared on the Good Beer Hunting podcast to discuss what her year has been like since her Instagram post asking for stories about sexual harassment and gender discrimination in craft breweries went viral. It's a great listen. My takeaway (which will be fodder for a future post): Is your business an ally, or are you just afraid of being canceled?Here's what I read this past week that I think you should be reading, too.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, March 24, 2022
Starbucks employees are trying to “kick down the door” across the entire food and beverage service industry
Less than one and one-half miles away from the flagship Starbucks that launched a global coffee empire five decades ago, employees unanimously voted for their shop to unionize. It became the seventh such store to vote to unionize, joining five stores in Buffalo, New York, and one in Mesa, Arizona. Of the 157 (and rising) Starbucks currently organizing or planning to organize, only one thus far (also in Buffalo) has sided with management.
Pay careful attention to what the employees of the Seattle store that just went union told The Seattle Times in speaking about what this vote means for employees in the food and beverage service industry generally.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, March 23, 2022
The nuts and bolts of your company code of conduct
Yesterday I explained why your company needs a code of conduct separate from or adjunct to your already-existing anti-harassment policy.
Today, I'm back to explain what it should contain, to whom it should apply, how violations are addressed, and how it should be disseminated.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, March 22, 2022
Does your craft brewery or other company have a code of conduct?
Meet Brienne Allan, a brewer at Notch Brewing in Salem, Mass. In May 2021 she asked a simple question in an Instagram Story— "What sexist comments have you experienced?"
What followed were hundreds upon hundreds of stories of sex-based discrimination, harassment, and other abuse.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, March 21, 2022
I’m going to say this loudly for the people in the back: IT’S ILLEGAL FOR EMPLOYEES TO WORK FOR FREE
I woke up Saturday morning to a tweet asking me for my take on this job posting.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, March 18, 2022
WIRTW #618: the “o sole mio” edition
Over the years I've shared a lot of videos of my daughter performing. At the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. At Ohio Bike Week. At the Best of Cleveland Party. On stage with Roger Waters. On stage with Rhett Miller. A lot of videos. (I'm a proud dad. What can I say?)
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, March 17, 2022
Just because “caregiver” isn’t a protected class doesn’t mean it isn’t sometimes illegal to discriminate against them
No matter how many times you read our federal workplace anti-discrimination laws, you won't find the word "caregiver" among the litany of protected classes. Yet, it has been clear since the earliest days of this blog that in the proper circumstances "caregiver discrimination" is illegal.
Earlier this week the EEOC updated its Covid-19 guidance to discuss these caregiver-related issues.
Caregiver discrimination violates the laws enforced by the EEOC if it is based on an applicant’s or employee’s sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), race, national origin, disability, age (40 or older), or another characteristic covered by federal employment discrimination laws. Caregiver discrimination also is unlawful if it is based on the caregiver’s association with an individual with a disability, or on the race, ethnicity, or other protected characteristic of the individual receiving care.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, March 16, 2022
In a stunning move, billion-dollar Starbucks investors urge the coffee retailer to go “union neutral”
Trillium Asset Management, which holds $48 million of Starbucks stock, is leading the charge on behalf of a billion-dollar-plus group of investors to push the coffee retailer to adopt a "union neutral" stance.
To date, more than 130 Starbucks stores in 26 states have petitioned the NLRB to unionize. Of the seven stores that have held elections so far, six have voted to unionize.
According to the letter sent to both Mellody Hobson, Independent Chair of the Starbucks Board of Directors, and Kevin Johnson, its CEO (and obtained by CNBC), there exists grave investor concern that reports of Starbucks' "aggressive union-busting tactics" will harm the brand and its reputation (and, by extension, sales, profits, and, ultimately, share value).
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, March 15, 2022
Does your employment lawyer speak emoji and meme?
After a workplace discussion between employees about employees had been discussing concerns about a superior's management style, an employee goes to management to complain about having an unmanageable workload. That night, that same employee posts the following on his personal Facebook page.
Just in case someone needed to know 🤷Employees don’t leave Companies, they leave Managers
We conclude the Charging Party engaged in protected concerted activity because the Facebook post elicited support from coworkers over scheduling, management, and employee attrition, issues that had been topics of concern for employees.
The post, as written, objectively sought to elicit support from coworkers and other employees—who were Facebook friends and would therefore see the post—regarding the perceived poor management practices that would lead to employee attrition.… [A]t least two of these employees' responses indicated their support for the Charging Party's message that bad management practices lead to a loss of employee morale and employee attrition.… Moreover, the Charging Party's post and the comments it elicited were a continuation of the Charging Party's earlier conversations with numerous other employees about the quality of the Employer's supervision.…Non-text communications, such as emojis and memes, can be just as communicative as text and prose, and when they communicate a message the law treats them no differently. If your employment lawyer isn't conversive in emojis, memes, TikToks, and other newer forms of communication, it's time for a new lawyer. Your employees are speaking like this. You need to understand it, and so does your lawyer.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, March 14, 2022
The 5th nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2022” is … the sh**ty superior
I thought I had seen all variety and manner of worst employer. Then Suzanne Lucas sent me this story.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, March 11, 2022
WIRTW #617: the “drive-thru” edition
Earlier this week I had the pleasure of guesting on DriveThruHR, one of the oldest and (in my opinion) best HR radio shows/podcasts. We discussed the end of my pandemic practice, the start of my craft beer practice, how alcohol is in my blood (and not in the way you might think), the sudden and successful rise of the labor movement, and some worst employers. Thanks to Mike VanDervort for the invite, and Mike and Robin Schooling for the discussion.
You can listen here, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Here's what I read this past week that I think you should be reading, too.For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, March 10, 2022
Local bag company learns an expensive lesson on wage and hour compliance
A federal judge has ordered American Made Bags to pay $189,756 to a group of 48 employees, half as unpaid wages and half as liquidated damages.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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