Things I learned at the 2012 SHRM Employment Law and Legislative conference

I attended SHRM’s Employment Law and Legislative Conference held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Washington, DC from March 4-7, 2012.  For information on what SHRM has to offer and on additional conferences, go to: (http://www.shrm.org) or on twitter for the Law & Legislative conference: #SHRMLeg

NLRB updates

Attorney Paul Salvatore’s presentation during the conference, “The Obama NLRB sends a wakeup call to HR”, focused on a number of new developments in Labor Relations.  Some of the things that Salvatore discussed during his session were the following:

a.  NLRB posting guidelines:  The mandatory NLRB posting requirement has been extended to April 30, 2012. All postings should take place by this date.

b.  Social media cases: New guidance provided in a recent report by the Acting General Counsel to the HR profession on social media cases. The report was a result of recent decisions on a number of court cases that affected social media and union activity.

Two main points from that report:

●      Employer policies should not be so sweeping that they prohibit the kinds of activity protected by federal labor law, such as the discussion of wages or working conditions among employees.

●      An employee’s comments on social media are generally not protected if they are mere gripes not made in relation to group activity among employees. Cited from: https://www.nlrb.gov/news/acting-general-counsel-issues-second-social-media-report

c.  Union Election Process: There are election process changes that will take effect on April 30, 2012.  You can also go to the NLRB’s website to read more about these changes (https://www.nlrb.gov/node/3608).  Highlights of the changes are below: 

●      Defining the scope of the pre-election hearing

●      Limiting post hearing briefs

●      Consolidating pre and post-election appeals

●      Eliminating the 25 day waiting period

●      Establishing a standard for interlocutory appeals.

d. NLRB Board appointments:  There were 3 recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board.  There is also litigation currently ongoing as to whether these appointments are constitutional or not. District Court for the District of Columbia- Nat’l Assoc. of Mfr. v. NLRB, 11-1629 and  Paulsen v. Renaissance Equity Holdings LLC, 12cv350.

For more information on the structure of a union, how they are formed and the governing body for all  Labor Relations in the US, please go to the National Labor Relations Board main website: https://www.nlrb.gov/nlrb-process

Recruitment and social media

I attended Eric B. Meyer’s (Twitter: @eric_b_meyer)presentation on “Social Media for HR: Practical Guidance from a Generation Y attorney”.   Meyer provided a great overview of case law, real life examples where the use of social media by employees became problematic, and advice on the use of social media in the workplace. 

Social media is now becoming one of the major tools used during recruitment.  Meyer mentioned that employers use tools such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to vet and recruit candidates.  As cited from www.jeffbullas.com , 1 in every 9 people on Earth is on Facebook; YouTube generates 92 billion page views per month, Twitter is adding nearly 500,000 users daily; and Google + was the fastest social network to reach 10 million users at 16 days. Meyer says that if you are using social media to recruit you should consider the following:

                                                               i.      Who owns the social media account? The recruiter or the company.

                                                              ii.      Is it for business or pleasure?

                                                            iii.      Is the employer identified in the account?

                                                            iv.      How will you evaluate the program? Feedback, recognition? What’s the ROI?

Social media policies

Eric Meyer provided some insightful observations on social media and policies.  He says that every organization should develop a social media policy and provide guidelines for the use of it during or outside of the work day.  You can’t get away from it.   Meyer mentions that social media impacts the company with 1. The image it produces of the company. 2. Employee morale—what are they saying about your company. 3. Productivity—are employees on there all the time? 4. Intellectual Property—is this being shared without your knowledge or 5. Confidentiality—what  does that look like? If a policy is implemented, he advises that the policy be clear and be reviewed by an employment law attorney. 

Some of my tips: Build connections to people you know on LinkedIn. Learn the hashtags (#) for the areas you are recruiting for on Twitter.  Join popular groups to increase your visibility and meet more of a candidate base that you are recruiting for on LinkedIn or Facebook.  Use proper etiquette, be friendly and try to respond to all requests whether they are good or bad on all social media sites.  I believe that social media and recruitment is the wave of the future.  Social media is growing and will be around for a while.  Why not jump on the bandwagon.

For the NLRB, employees and employers should understand that process and their rights.  During this election season, there will be an interest in both parties on what this process should look like, different changes that should be made, and the composition of the governing body, so it’s important to stay abreast of what’s going on.

As always, prioritize, set boundaries and live!