Supreme Court backs suits over discriminatory job transfers
The justices unanimously ruled Wednesday that people suing under the main federal job-bias law don’t have to show a transfer caused them a significant disadvantage.
labor and employment
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Freight railroads must keep 2-person crews, according to new federal rule 2 years in the making
There has been intense focus on railroad safety since a fiery February 2023 derailment in Ohio, but few significant changes have been made apart from steps the railroads pledged to take themselves and the agreements they made to provide paid sick time to nearly all workers.
Senators spar over looser teenage labor laws; plus: pensions, land buys and more
Senate Democrats maintained fierce opposition on Tuesday to legislation loosening Indiana’s child labor laws, while their Republican colleagues took the opportunity to shore up their conservative credentials.
Indiana Senate’s child labor bill heads to governor
Senate Bill 146 would lower the minimum age of a teenager serving alcohol from 19 to 18, so long as they had a supervisor over the age of 21.
Hollis, Nickels and Roth: New DOL rule for determining independent contractors
On Jan. 9, the U.S. Department of Labor released its highly anticipated Final Rule, which revises the criteria for determining whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Biden is marking the 15th anniversary of landmark pay equity law with steps to help federal workers
The Biden administration is marking Monday’s 15th anniversary of a landmark federal pay equity law with new action to help close gaps in pay for federal employees and employees of federal contractors.
Prisoners in the US are part of a hidden workforce linked to hundreds of popular food brands
Intricate, invisible webs link some of the world’s largest food companies and most popular brands to jobs performed by U.S. prisoners nationwide, according to a sweeping two-year AP investigation into prison labor that tied hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of agricultural products to goods sold on the open market.
Autoworkers reach a deal with Ford, a breakthrough toward ending strikes against Detroit automakers
The United Auto Workers union said Wednesday it has reached a tentative contract agreement with Ford that could be a breakthrough toward ending the nearly 6-week-old strikes against Detroit automakers.
Thuesen: Labor law in Germany vs. United States
I have had the wonderful opportunity to spend the fall of my 3L year studying at Bucerius Law School in Hamburg, Germany. One of my reasons for studying in Germany was that I wanted to experience a different country’s approach to labor and employment law.
The future of electric vehicles looms over negotiations in the US autoworkers strike
With the UAW strike now in its fourth week, electric vehicles and their potential impact on job security have become central to union negotiations with the automakers.
Workers at Mack Trucks go on strike after rejecting tentative contract deal
Union workers at Mack Trucks went on strike Monday after voting down a tentative five-year contract agreement that negotiators had reached with the company.
Why the United Auto Workers union is poised to strike major US car makers this week
About 146,000 U.S. auto workers are set to go on strike this week if General Motors, Ford and Stellantis fail to meet their demands for big pay raises and the restoration of concessions the workers made years ago when the companies were in financial trouble.
Worker shortage leads firms to hire more ex-offenders
Amid a nationwide worker shortage, central Indiana employers are increasingly taking a chance on new hires who have been arrested or convicted of a crime.
UAW to vote on strike authorization next week as president says talks with Detroit 3 moving slowly
About 146,000 members of the United Auto Workers union will vote next week whether to authorize their leaders to call strikes against the Detroit automakers.
States seek to let teens as young as 14 serve booze in restaurants
There’s a growing trend among states to propose and enact legislation allowing teens — as young as 14 — to serve alcohol in restaurants, among laws rolling back other child labor limits.
SCOTUS rules against union in labor dispute involving truck drivers, wet concrete
In a dispute about the pressure that organized labor can exert during a strike, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday against unionized drivers who walked off the job with their trucks full of wet concrete.
Justices OK overtime pay for $200,000-a-year oil rig worker
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that an energy company employee who earned more than $200,000 a year still qualified for overtime pay under a New Deal-era federal law meant to protect blue-collar workers.
Starbucks asks labor board to halt union votes temporarily
Starbucks on Monday asked the National Labor Relations Board to temporarily suspend all union elections at its U.S. stores, citing allegations from a board employee that regional NLRB officials improperly coordinated with union organizers.
2 nurses sue Hendricks Regional Health for underpayment due to time-clock rules
Two nurses who worked at Hendricks Regional Health claim they were required to change into scrubs in locker rooms and travel to their work areas before they could punch in for their shifts, resulting in chronic underpayment.
Split 7th Circuit allows RV worker’s age discrimination claim to continue
A former Forest River employee will get a second chance to make his claim that the recreational vehicle maker constructively discharged him by refusing to address age-based harassment after a split 7th Circuit Court of Appeals revived the case and sent it back to the Northern Indiana District Court. However, one judge dissented, asserting, “there was not enough ‘constructive’ in the plaintiff’s constructive discharge claim.”