The Ethics of Sleep

Employee A was up most of the night surfing the internet.
Employee B got eight hours of sleep.
Which employee is more likely to shut the door to his office and sleep while he's supposed to be working and why?

NMA's take on Proposed Child Labor Law Relaxation

In the category of animations in labor and employment law, here is an animation by NMA, a Taiwanese animation studio. The folks at NMA give their take on a proposed Missouri child labor law:
You have to click out of those pesky ads to read the subtitles.


I am not endorsing of the views depicted in this video; I am posting about it because it is an example of animation technology influencing labor and employment law.

Buonadonna Shoprite, 356 NLRB No. 115 (2011)

This case addressed the boundaries of an employer's Weingarten obligation.  An employee wanted to be represented by a different rep than the one who was available.  A manager wanted the employee to give a statement without his preferred rep.  The Board concluded that the employee was not entitled to the rep of his choice.  (The decision left unresolved the question of whether the employer's refusal to allow the employee to call the preferred steward during the meeting was unlawful.)

You can see Seth Borden's thoughts on the case here.

DOL's Timesheet App

The DOL put out a news release yesterday about its new timesheet app for smartphones.  I just installed the app on my phone and  so far it does seem easy to use.  I can see how it would be helpful for hourly employees, especially in industries like construction where the work is often away from a facility.

I wonder if future versions of the app could help with some of the emerging smartphone/email wage and hour issues.  For instance, you could tell your phone what numbers were work-related.  That way, when you receive a call from Boss in your free time, the app could add the minutes of the call to your timesheet.  Similarly, every time you log into your work email, or read a work text, the app could add that time (or some estimate) into your timesheet.

More on Blessed Pope John Paul II

Blessed Pope John Paul wrote 14 encyclicals.  He discussed workers and the social doctrine in three of them.

Laborem Exercens (1981)

Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (1987)


Centesimus Annus (May 1, 1997)