Total Articles: 18
Right Here, Right Now: Indiana Passes Right-to-Work Legislation
Indiana joins Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming as states where forced unionism is prohibited. Several other states are considering right-to-work legislation.
Indiana Enacts Right-To-Work Legislation: Will The Rest Of The Rust Belt Follow?
On February 1, 2012, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels signed right-to-work legislation into law. Right-to-work laws prohibit anyone from forcing a person to join or support a union as a condition of employment. That is to say, they protect an individual's fundamentally American "right to work" without being forced to join, or pay any of their earnings, to any group. Right-to-work laws do not in any way prevent people from joining or paying dues to a union if they freely choose to do so.
Indiana Enacts Right-to-Work Law
Indiana has become the 23rd state to enact what is commonly known as a right-to-work statute. The National Labor Relations Act permits employers and unions to enter into "union security" clauses that require, as a condition of employment, employees to become members in good standing of the union. Much to the dismay of unions, however, Section 14(b) of the Act permits individual states to override this one aspect of federal law if that state has enacted a statute that prohibits "the execution or application of agreements requiring membership in a labor organization as a condition of employment." With the enactment of its statute, Indiana joins Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and Idaho as "right-to-work" states.
Indiana Adopts Right-to-Work Law
Indiana’s new right-to-work law amends the Indiana Code to prohibit collective bargaining agreements that would require workers to pay union dues or fees. The new law, signed by Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels on February 1, 2012, applies to any written or oral contract or agreement entered into, modified, renewed, or extended after March 14, 2012. It does not apply to or abrogate a written or oral contract or agreement in effect on March 14, 2012.
Indiana Enacts Right-to-Work Law: Becomes the Only Right-to-Work State in the Central Midwest
On February 1, 2012, Governor Mitch Daniels signed into law a bill that makes Indiana the nation’s 23rd right-to-work state. The bill’s legislative supporters describe the law as “a victory for job creation and individual freedom for workers to decide for themselves if they want to financially back a union.” The bill’s supporters envision “a surge in economic development interest” in Indiana because Indiana is now the only right-to-work state in the central Midwest.
First-ever Prosecution under Indiana Prevailing Wage Law
A subcontractor on Marion County, Indiana, public school projects has agreed to pay a fine of $1,000 and submit to a wage audit by the Indiana Department of Labor. The agreement resulted from the first-ever prosecution of a contractor under the Common Construction Wage Act (Indiana Code 5-16-7), Indiana’s prevailing wage law.
New Indiana Law Restricts Employers from Requiring Employees and Applicants to Disclose Gun Possession and Use
Can an Indiana employer with reasonable suspicion ask an employee if he has a gun in his briefcase? Not without opening itself up for liability under Indiana's new Disclosure of Firearm or Ammunition Information as a Condition of Employment Law.
New Law Guarantees Right to Employee Representation Elections
Effective July 1, 2011, a new Indiana statute guarantees employees the right to vote by secret ballot in any election that is required or permitted by Indiana or federal law for the designation, authorization or retention of employee representation. This same statute (codified at I.C. 22-6-5-1 et seq.) guarantees the right of any employer to engage in a campaign in connection with such an election.
New Indiana “Non-Disclosure” Gun Law Takes Effect July 1
Last year, the Indiana General Assembly passed a law that prohibits most employers from adopting a rule or policy prohibiting employees from possessing firearms or ammunition in an employer’s parking lot, so long as they are kept in a locked vehicle and out of sight. This year, the Indiana legislature passed, and the Governor signed into law, another bill further restricting employers from regulating the possession of firearms by their employees.
Preliminary Injunction Granted for Parts of New Indiana Immigration Law
As predicted in our prior Legal Alert on this topic on May 13, 2011, Indiana's recently enacted immigration law has been challenged in court. On June 24, 2011, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana granted a preliminary injunction, preventing certain provisions of the new law from going into effect as planned on July 1, 2011.
Indiana Gets Tough On Employers Of Illegal Aliens
On May 10, 2011, Governor Daniels signed a new law imposing significant consequences on Indiana employers who employ unauthorized workers. The law goes into effect on July 1, 2011.
Indiana Workplace Gun Law Amended to Further Restrict Employers' Policies.
A year after employers in Indiana revised their policies to conform to the state’s “bring your gun to work law,” they again must conform their policies to the law’s amendments that will become effective July 1, 2011, further limiting some employers’ attempts to safeguard their workplaces.
Indiana Further Limits Employers With Respect to Guns and Ammo
On April 18, 2011, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels signed a new law clarifying and bolstering employees' and applicants' right to lawfully possess firearms and ammunition. The law takes effect July 1, 2011.
Governor Daniels Signs Workplace Gun Bill Into Law.
On Thursday, March 18, 2010, Governor Mitch Daniels signed P.L. 90-2010 into law, allowing workers who may otherwise lawfully possess firearms or ammunition to keep firearms and ammunition in their locked vehicles in trunks, glove compartments, or out of plain sight while parked on company property. The law is a response to Indiana employers (and employers around the nation) who prohibit employees from having firearms anywhere on company property through corporate gun policies and workplace violence rules. The take your gun to work law, as termed by the media, now makes it illegal for Indiana employers to adopt any policy that prohibits, or has the effect of prohibiting, employees from having firearms in their locked vehicles while the vehicle is on company property. In addition, the law authorizes civil lawsuits by employees and allows for actual damages and attorneys fees for employees who prevail in a court action against a non-complying employer.
Indiana Court Rejects Negligence Suit Brought By Murder Victims Estate.
A state appellate court recently ruled in favor of an employer whose employee left a job site in the middle of a shift, drove several miles away in his personal vehicle, broke into a home, and murdered two residents. According to the Indiana Court of Appeals, because the harm caused by the employee was not reasonably foreseeable, the employer was not responsible for negligently hiring and retaining him.
Indiana Supreme Court Rules on "Workplace Bullying" Case.
In a 4-1 decision, the Indiana Supreme Court upheld a $325,000 verdict against a cardiovascular surgeon accused of being a workplace bully. Previously, the trial and appellate court decisions in the case had received nationwide attention because of the interest in the concept of workplace bullying. Raess v. Doescher, No. 49S02-0710-CV-424, Indiana Supreme Court (April 8, 2008).
New Law Requires Indiana Employers To Provide Leave.
The ongoing war in Iraq has spurred several states to approve legislation creating workplace leave entitlements for individuals with family members in the military. Following that trend, mid-sized and larger employers in Indiana now are required to provide job-protected leave to eligible employees with family members on active duty in the U.S. armed forces and the Indiana National Guard.
Employee's Retaliatory Discharge Claim Rejected (pdf).
The Indiana Court of Appeals recently
dismissed a lawsuit brought by
an employee who sued his employer
for retaliatory discharge. According
to the court, the employee failed to
show that his working conditions were
so intolerable that a reasonable employee
would have felt compelled to
quit.
