business
Medical practices must display notices about employee organizing rights
■ These posters will explain that staffers have the right to form unions, bargain collectively and strike.
By Victoria Stagg Elliott — Posted Sept. 15, 2011
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As of Nov. 14, employers, including most medical practices, need to post a notice informing those on the payroll about their rights to join a union and negotiate as a group, according to a final rule issued Aug. 30 by the National Labor Relations Board.
"Almost every company would be required to put up this posting," said Nancy Cleeland, an NLRB spokeswoman.
The rule applies to private-sector employers subject to the National Labor Relations Act, including medical practices with income or expenses of at least $250,000. The final rule for notification of employee rights is available online (link).
Posters will be available at no charge from NLRB regional offices or the organization's website. If personnel rules are usually posted on an Internet or intranet site, this notice must be added. Failure to do so would be considered an unfair labor practice.
These posters state that employees have the right to collaborate to improve wages and working conditions. They may join and assist a union and bargain collectively. Workers also have the right to not participate in such activities. The poster includes examples of illegal employer and union conduct, and information about how to contact the NLRB to file a complaint.
The number of people represented by unions has declined over the past few decades, although there has been slight growth in the health care setting. Approximately, 1.1 million health care practitioners and technicians, a category that includes physicians, were represented by unions in 2010. That was true for only 810,000 in this occupational category in 2000, according to the Labor Dept. The number of health care support personnel represented by unions grew from 286,000 in 2000 to 296,000 in 2010.
