I will be a faculty member at the Labor Arbitration Institute trainings in San Francisco on September 5 and 6, and in Seattle on October 5. These lively and informative trainings offer CLE and CEU units and plenty of time to meet arbitrators and ask questions. Many folks find the Institute to be great for newer and more experienced practitioners. If you come, please introduce yourself to me as a website visitor! I will be speaking on Sexual Harassment and Past Practice, and opining on many hypotheticals. Please join me!
Labor Arbitration Blog
Last Chance for Vegas
Just a reminder that I will be speaking at the Labor Arbitration Institute on June 18 and 19. You can still register at https://laborarb.com. Please join me!
Becoming a Labor Arbitrator – What It’s Really Like
To become a labor arbitrator, a person needs many years of experience in labor relations and collective bargaining. Many arbitrators retire from a career in law or human resources or union representation and launch their careers as a neutral. In recent decades, this is the most common path; a retirement income is necessary during those early years when labor and management are reluctant to select someone they perceive as new or untested. Even people with a long career in labor relations as an advocate struggle to get recognized as a neutral. In fact, for practitioners entering the profession, it can be an unpleasant surprise that the respect one earned in their field doesn’t translate to business very easily.
Even with a primary income (either from retirement or household sources), a new arbitrator can find themselves with a lot of time on their hands. When I started out, more experienced arbitrators recommended that I line up a hobby and some volunteer work that could structure my time until my practice took off. At first, I ran a lot and worked out, drove my kids to seemingly infinite practices and games, and started writing memoir and fiction for pleasure. I also volunteered for our local Little League board and the Oakland Police Commission. It’s safe to say my plate is now overflowing.
I was reminded of this admonition today when I read an obituary for an arbitrator from Oregon who passed recently. The obituary noted that she would be missed by the labor relations and accordion communities. I found this comment to be both funny and sweet. Clearly this esteemed woman had committed herself to playing the accordion to enrich her life, developing friendships and connections along the way. Most arbitrators have some aspect of their life that is little known to the parties that appear before them. I know of other fiction writers, stamp collectors, private pilots, movie buffs, photographers, swimmers, golfers and jazz musicians. I wonder if there are other accordion-playing arbitrators?
Can’t Make It To Vegas?
I know Vegas in June is on everyone’s bucket list, but if you can’t join me at the Las Vegas Labor Arbitration Institute on June 18 and 19, then consider coming to the San Francisco Labor Arbitration Institute on September 5 and 6. Registration isn’t open yet, but you can get added to the notification list (or sign up for a different conference) HERE.
Meet Me in Las Vegas, 2018
I am heading back to Las Vegas to join the faculty of the Labor Arbitration Institute for their annual Labor Law and Labor Arbitration training on June 18-19, 2018. I will be on several multi-arbitrator panels and will present on the thorny topics of Insubordination and Job Performance. This training is praised by participants and faculty alike. You can find out more at www.laborarb.com. I hope to see you there!
Social Media and the Workplace, part 1
Last year, I was asked to present on the “new electronic frontiers” in the workplace, and related issues in arbitration. In preparing my presentation, I came across these incredible statistics from the Pew Research Center:
As of November 2016,
- 88% of American adults have internet access
- 69% of American adults use social media
- 86% of 18-29 year olds use social media
- 80% of 30-49 year olds use social media
- 64% of 50-64 year olds use social media
- 68% of American adults use Facebook
- 88% of 18-29 year olds use Facebook
- 65% of adults who make less than $30000/year use Facebook
- 76% of Facebook users use it daily
- Facebook at 191 active monthly users in the United States, and 1.86 billion active monthly users worldwide
These numbers are stunning for a few reasons. First of all, it’s clear that internet and social media usage are as or more pervasive among workers than possibly any other media usage or activity. Other than essentials like eating and sleeping, is there anything this many Americans do in common? Second, this kind of access undermines arguments that workers cannot and do not use technology in a variety ways. It’s clear that the internet isn’t going away, and workers are relying on it more than ever for everything from socializing to banking to managing their own work.
As a result, employers and unions are grappling with the issues that are raised by access to social media and the internet, both in and out of the workplace. Other the next several posts, I want to talk about the variety of these cases and how arbitrators approach them.
The most common issue that arbitrators see in this area are disciplinary matters that hinge on misuse of equipment, the internet, social media and on-duty vs. off-duty conduct. In general, arbitrators apply a variation of the Just Cause Standard to these cases, asking:
- Is there a clear policy on internet, social media, computer or email usage?
- Is the rule articulated reasonable?
- How was the information obtained, and is the employee responsible for it?
- Is there disparate treatment and an appropriate penalty?
Just cause standard in computer misuse cases was described by Arbitrator Jeffrey W. Jacobs, NAA Member, “Computer & Internet Misuse – So, You Mean Once It’s Posted, It’s Really There Forever and I Could Get Fired For It?”, published by The Labor Arbitration Institute.
I’ll talk about each of these in upcoming posts.