Comments from the Chair

Section Expects Midwinter Meetings to Examine Obama Second Term Policy and Enforcement Priorities

There are few citizens more affected by a presidential election than lawyers who represent employers, unions and employees. The direction of the political winds in Washington has a major influence on American workplaces and the counselors and advocates who represent management and workers. The composition of the National Labor Relations Board, the regulatory agenda of the U.S. Department of Labor, the enforcement priorities of the Solicitor of Labor, NLRB, EEOC, OFCCP, OSHA, etc., often fluctuate when administrations change. Even when the president is re-elected, a second term sees . . . [more]

Stewart S. Manela

Chair, ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law

Special Feature

Congress Strengthens Whistleblower Protections for Federal Employees

On November 27, 2012, President Obama signed into law the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2012 (WPEA),¹ which will substantially strengthen whistleblower protections for federal whistleblowers. The legislation recognizes that whistleblowers are crucial in helping to expose waste, fraud, abuse, mismanagement and threats to public health and safety across the Federal government. Their disclosures save billions of dollars and even human lives. A recent study published by the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) titled, "Blowing the Whistle: Barriers to Federal Employees Making Disclosures," found that, in 2010, approximately one-third of . . . [more]

Tech Corner

Technology and Inclusion in the Workplace

If you did not make it to this year's 6th Annual ABA Labor & Employment Law Conference, you missed your chance to drive a robot. And at the rate the technology is developing, it may not be long before companies allow robots as a viable telecommuting option for workers unable to be in the office physically, bringing with it a host of legal benefits and new challenges.

Technology was a hot topic at this year's Annual Conference. There were panels that covered the use of technology for employee monitoring; a variety of social media topics; technological tools for the practice of law; electronic investigation tools and privacy limitations; cybercrime issues; Internet-based advertising and promotional methods and limitations; electronic discovery; developing technologies; and . . . [more]

Section News

2012 Frances Perkins Public Service Award Winner Announced

Ballard Spahr LLP was the recipient of the ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law's 2012 Frances Perkins Public Service Award for extraordinary pro bono work provided over many years. The prestigious award was presented to the firm by Section Chair Stewart Manela at the ABA 6th Annual Labor and Employment Law Conference in Atlanta in November.

The firm was recognized for providing significant assistance to women athletes and organizations supporting women's athletics over the last two decades. The firm has provided thousands of . . . [more]

Midwinter Meeting Registration is Open!

Registration is open for the Section's 2013 Committee Midwinter Meetings! Midwinter Meetings will be loaded with substantive programs on hot topics, current developments and recent decisions, presented by experts in their respective fields. All Committee Midwinter Meetings are eligible for CLE credit; some fulfill a year's requirement in many states. Visit the Midwinter Meetings page to find your committee's 2013 midwinter meeting link.

Contribute to the Journal of Labor & Employment Law!

The ABA Journal of Labor & Employment Law invites members of the Section to submit articles for possible publication in the Journal on any topic of labor and employment law of interest to practicing attorneys. The Journal seeks to include articles from diverse perspectives (representatives of unions, employers, and employees, as well as neutrals) As a large proportion of the Journal's submissions have come from attorneys practicing labor or discrimination law, it has a special interest in receiving articles from other areas of practice including ERISA, OSHA, state common law, public sector labor and employment law, and ADR. Manuscripts should be shorter than forty pages, double spaced in Word format, and attached to an e-mail.

Learn more about the Journal.

Coming Soon

Employee Benefits Law, Third Edition

The new Third Edition offers detailed, annotated coverage of ERISA Titles I and IV; rules of tax qualification, deductibility, and other key tax issues; preemption, with regard to ERISA and medical malpractice and related claims; and more.

The treatise discusses important recent cases such as CIGNA Corp. v. Amara, Conkright v. Frommert, Hardt v. Reliance Standard Life Insurance Co., and Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. v. Glenn. It also covers the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.

This treatise is published in cooperation with the Employee Benefits Committee.

Coming Soon

Elkouri & Elkouri: How Arbitration Works, Seventh Edition

The new Seventh Edition provides in-depth coverage of critical topics including arbitrators' consideration of external law in labor arbitration, legislation and litigation developing standards for evidentiary privilege as it relates to union shop stewards, arbitrators' views on threats and violence, reconsideration of the continued viability of the plain meaning rule, and more.

The treatise includes a table of all arbitration awards discussed in text or cited in footnotes, a table of arbitrators, a table of statutory authorities, a table of cases with court and administrative cases, and a comprehensive index. Topics in the chapters are identified by Bloomberg BNA's Labor Arbitration Reports (LA) classification numbers, making it easier to do additional research in that arbitration award service.

This treatise is published in cooperation with the Committee on ADR in Labor and Employment Law.

Coming Soon

Employment Discrimination Law, Fifth Edition

The new Fifth Edition provides updated analysis of changes and significant new developments since the previous supplement, including rewritten chapters on EEOC Administrative Processes and Federal Contractor Affirmative Action Compliance. It offers substantial revisions and updates to many chapters, covering the Supreme Court's decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes; the Supreme Court's rulings expanding the breadth of retaliation claims; and more.

In most chapters, footnotes focus almost exclusively on decisions by the Supreme Court and the U.S. Courts of Appeals, avoiding cumulative and space-consuming citations, with the exception that district court decisions have been retained in instances where they constitute an important part of the developing case law (such as under newer statutes) and in fields such as procedure and evidence where there is little appellate authority.

This treatise is published in cooperation with the Equal Employment Opportunity Committee.

For a complete listing of Section titles and discounted prices, and to order, visit www.bna.com/bnabooks/abale.

Note to Potential Contributors

Interested in writing for the Flash? Contact the editors (email addresses are found in the masthead) with your article ideas. Suggested article length is 400-800 words and non-scholarly in format.