American labor law contains many "traps for the unwary,"--------principles of law that pose dire consequences for employers who act without obeying the law affecting their conduct. These traps affect both unionized and non-union employers. We have developed a short TRUE/FALSE quiz to focus on some of these traps:
TRUE OR FALSE
1. A company that has a collective bargaining contract need not bargain with the union before it implements a drug testing policy.
2. A company can prohibit employees from using its email system to solicit other employees to join a union.
3. If a union representative comes to a company with union authorization cards signed by all of the employees that work at the company and demands to be recognized, that company must recognize and bargain with the union within 30 days.
4. A company that has a collective bargaining contract need not bargain with the union before it starts video taping workplace activities.
5. Supervisors are prohibited from expressing their views, opinions and arguments about unions in the workplace as this is considered interference with protected concerted activity or unlawful harassment.
6. Supervisors must not make promises or grant benefits in an effort to thwart union organizing at their company.
7. In response to active union organizing, it is a "best practice" and lawful for an employer to quickly develop and implement an effective "NO SOLICITATION/NO DISTRIBUTION POLICY".
8. Supervisors and managers can tell employees that the employer will shut down its operations if a union gets into the company.
9. A company that has a collective bargaining contract need not bargain with the union before it moves bargaining unit work to another location during the term of the contract.
10. A company that has a collective bargaining contract need not bargain with the union before it shuts down its operations during the term of the contract.
We will provide the answers along with comments to each of these queries next week. Should you need
an answer before then, just send us a note.