Posted on July 30, 2015 by AdminUN

PREGNANT EMPLOYEES’ PATH TO WORKPLACE ACCOMMODATIONS

The Supreme Court issued a decision earlier this year explaining the rights pregnant employees have to accommodations.  We thought the decision was explained very well for practitioners by Jeff Nowak of FMLA Insights. So, rather than try to outdo his very fine analysis and advice we suggest you click over to his post, read through it, and then forward it to all the folks who rely on your advice. We do not advise trying to presume you know who all the pregnant members.

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Posted on July 30, 2015 by AdminUN

LEAVE TO ATTEND RELIGIOUS CONVENTIONS 

EEOC has gone out of its way to explain that feds are entitled to accommodations for a wide variety of religious activities. If you doubt us, check out RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION COVERAGE EXPANDING, CHURCH LADY SMITS DOD, AND CHRISTIANS 1, CBP MANAGEMENT -$28,600. The Commission came out with another last week where an employee asked for leave to attend a religious convention, but never asked for a formal accommodation. Continue reading →

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Posted on July 28, 2015 by AdminUN

POOP IS GINA PROTECTED

(GUEST AUTHOR)- Is it lawful for an employer to collect genetic information from an employee, even if for non-discriminatory reasons?  According to a recent a decision out of the Northern District of Georgia, the answer is no.  Lowe v. Atlas Logistic Groups Retail Services, LLC (May 5, 2015).  Lowe involves a truly bizarre fact pattern – an unknown person was defecating in a factory and the company could not figure out the culprit.  After narrowing the suspect to several employees, the company requested DNA swabs that could compare to the … evidence … left on site.  Two innocent employees who complied with the request filed suit under the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act (GINA).  Despite the fact that the company requested the DNA swabs for non-discriminatory reasons, and did not use the swabs to collect information on the employees (only to compare to the evidence), the company was found to have violated the statute and was ordered to pay damages.    Continue reading →

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Posted on July 28, 2015 by AdminUN

DOL TARGETS UNION FINANCIAL ERRORS & CRIMES

Actually, that is an understatement. Since the beginning of the year DOL has announced about 70 indictments, guilty pleas, or convictions from union leaders for embezzlement, fraud, wire fraud, false statements, and whatever other terms are used to criminally pursue those who misuse union funds. Continue reading →

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Posted on July 28, 2015 by AdminUN

THIS LOCAL UNION BEST WEB SITE JUST GOT BETTER

A couple of years ago we declared the local union web site run by NTEU Chapter 293 the best among all we have seen. Well, ignore that post and the good example their web site was. Chapter 293 has come out with an even better site that once again raises the bar for the rest of us. (Yes, we are jealous and dealing with feelings of inadequacy. Imagine what national NTEU is feeling given its aged web site.) Check out Chapter 293’s new, improved, and eye-popping site. Visually attractive, easy to understand with a glance, up to date, and useful to building the union. Back in 2001 this local had 735 members. Today it has over 1,000 more, and we strongly suspect it is because of all the attention it pays to managing the union’s image. Our compliments to the imaginative, forward-looking, leaders at 293 who had to welcome ideas for lots of folks to develop something so fitting.

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Posted on July 28, 2015 by AdminUN

DOL DEMANDS GREATER SECRECY IN CONVENTION VOTES

There is an interesting case working its way through the Colorado federal courts. The Department of Labor has sued a union alleging that the voting process at its convention was not as secret as law requires. If DOL wins this one, unions will have to step up their efforts to enabled delegates to mark ballots in secret. Here is what DOL has posted on its own web site about the case. In fact, if unions have elections in progress now and are ignoring the DOL demands they risk a lot of money rerunning the elections. Continue reading →

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Posted on June 14, 2015 by AdminUN

FAREWELL COLLEEN KELLEY AND THANKS

In a little less than 60 days, Colleen Kelley, National President of NTEU and one of the more visible figures in federal sector labor relations, will retire after 16 years in that job. So, we thought that before she left we would say, “Thanks” and take this opportunity to wander down memory lane looking back on all that has happened in NTEU and around the federal sector since late 1999, the dawn of this century. She deserves credit for so much. Continue reading →

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Posted on June 12, 2015 by AdminUN

WHAT IS AN LGBT SLUR?

OPM deserves credit for publishing, “Addressing Sexual and Gender Identity Discrimination in Federal Civilian Employment: A Guide to Employment Rights, Protections and Responsibilities.”   It is a concise and clear explanation of how those who believe they were victims of either form of gender discrimination can formally seek corrective action.  Indeed, its explanation of the anti-discrimination procedures is likely useful for challenging most forms of discrimination.  But, it ducked a very significant step in stopping illegal behavior against anyone in the LGBT community, educating others about what will be considered a harassing slur or even provide examples of situations which have been found to constitute either form of illegal discrimination. We recognize the sensitivity of a government agency identifying a list of slurs or even a string of factual situations it agrees constitute illegal discrimination. But we wonder why it did not at least refer the readers to private lists of that information, such as provided by Wikipedia (List of LBGT Slang Terms), or case examples provided by private entities.  It did not even speak to the question of whether a single example of a slur being used in the workplace will be considered discrimination under OPM rules. Given that the courts are divided on that issue, it was important for OPM to speak.

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Posted on June 12, 2015 by AdminUN

FMLA AND OVERNIGHT HOSPITAL STAYS

A new circuit court decision is getting lots of attention because of how it defines an overnight hospital stay for purposes of FMLA.  If you do the FMLA for your local, this is something you might find helpful from FMLA Insights.

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Posted on June 12, 2015 by AdminUN

EEOC TO PUBLICLY DISCUSS WORKPLACE HARASSMENT

EEOC is holding a meeting on June 17 in Washington and on-line to discuss how to fight workplace harassment. If you are in DC or can get on-line access this seems like it will be worth your time to listen.

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