New policy increases penalty for offending employers
THINGS JUST GOT a little tougher for employers who violate labor law and mistreat their employees. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which has become more labor-friendly thanks to recent President Obama appointments, has announced that interest on back pay and other monetary awards will now be compounded on a daily basis rather than annually or quarterly.
This is an important change. Daily compounding will mean more interest is tacked on when an employer loses an unfair labor practice (ULP) case and is required to pay an employee for lost wages and benefits. The move strengthens the “make whole” provision of the National Labor Relations Act.
The board’s decision was reached unanimously in Kentucky River Medical Center, 356 NLRB No. 8. In that case, the employer unlawfully suspended a worker pending an investigation of her union activity. The NLRB said it would apply the policy change retroactively to that case and to all other pending cases “in whatever stage, given the absence of any ‘manifest injustice’ in doing so.”
The NLRB’s policy change highlights the importance of electing a president who supports organized labor. President Obama’s appointees to federal agencies continue to level the playing field for workers, who have long been neglected by previous, anti-union administrations.
