An agency shop is a place of employment in which full membership in a union is not required, but the union acts as an agent for the employees. Both union members and non-union members must pay periodic union dues and initiation fees whether...
labor law
agriculture
Agriculture refers to the acts of farming and raising livestock. Activities that fall within agriculture include soil preparation, seed planting, crop harvesting, gardening, viticulture (growing grapes), apiculture (bee-raising), dairying,...
at-will employment
At-will employment is an employment arrangement in which the employee may quit at any time, and the employer may fire the employee for any reason and at any point, so long as the dismissal isn’t for an unlawful reason. For example, an...
back pay
Back pay refers to compensation for work that was either already performed or work that could have been performed if not for the interference of another party.
Workers’ compensation in the United States is governed by the...
bargaining unit
A bargaining unit is a group of employees who have a clear and identifiable community of interests with one another. Additionally, a bargaining unit is represented by a single labor union in dealings with management such as collective...
boycott
Boycott is a term that is most frequently referenced in the context of antitrust law. It is a concerted refusal to deal with a disfavored purchaser or seller. The word is both a noun and a verb and stems from Captain Charles C. Boycott’s name...
cafeteria plan
A cafeteria plan is a written employee benefit program that allows employees to choose at least two benefits from a menu of options. As explained by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), a cafeteria plan must allow employees to choose between...
capacity
Capacity refers to the ability to make a rational decision based upon all relevant facts and considerations. Some common usages of the term “capacity” in a legal sense include:
In the context of criminal law, the term “capacity” means...captive audience
A captive audience refers to a situation in which an employer gives speeches that discourage employees from joining a union or that are in some way anti-union. These speeches may be given to employees on company time and company property and...
casual labor
Casual labor is defined as a term of art used to refer to work that does not further the business of the employer, typically done on a one-time or very sporadic basis.
Because “casual labor” is not defined in any state...