Yes, the Employee Free Choice Act has hit a rocky road in Congress. So pro-labor groups have another proposal ready: the Arbitration Fairness Act.
The act has been introduced in both houses of Congress, and in simple terms, here’s the key sentence covering what’s proposed:
Pre-dispute agreements requiring the arbitration of an employment dispute or any dispute arising under any statute intended to protect civil rights would be invalid and unenforceable.
In other words, employers will no longer be able to ask employees to sign agreements to arbitrate employee charges of discrimination, harassment or similar treatment prohibited by Title VII and other statutes.
So, let’s say as part of new-hire procedures and paperwork, you have the new employee sign an agreement to arbitrate any disputes over perceived treatment based on race, sex, religion, etc. You’ll have to throw out those agreements.
In its current form, the Act only prohibits pre-dispute arbitration agreements. Thus, employers and employees would still be permitted to enter into agreements to resolve particular disputes in arbitration, but only after the dispute has already arisen.
And arbitration provisions in collective bargaining agreements would be exempt from the Act, although the Senate version of the bill places some limits on that exemption.
Part of the act covers disputes between companies and consumers, but the relevant section for most employers involves employment disputes.
You can look at a summary of the bill or the full text.
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