Bill Schurgin Quoted on MSNBC.com

Bill Schurgin is quoted in a November 6 MSNBC.com column [You might be a boss and not know it : Latest ruling from NLRB makes it tougher for unions to organize], about the impact of a series of National Labor Relations Board rulings on supervisor status.

The so-called Kentucky River rulings began when the NLRB sided with management of a Detroit hospital in deciding that many of its nurses were effectively supervisors, and not protected if they chose to unionize. The author says that union groups maintain as many as 8 million workers could lose their right to unionize, but employer advocates contend the ruling will have little effect on the rank and file and that no one really knows how far-reaching the new standard will be.

Now that the factors of assigning work and independent judgment have gained new importance in defining the role of supervisor, some fear that anyone who directs another employee can be categorized as supervisors. But employer advocates don’t see it that way.

Labor law attorney William P. Schurgin says the ruling finally establishes “21st century guidelines that help employers evaluate who is and who is not a supervisor for purposes of the Labor Relations Act.”