August 16, 2024 • 14 mins
Need help navigating the labyrinth of employment labor laws? HR consultant Ricky Baez joins us to unravel these complexities and offer practical strategies for business owners. Listeners will discover essential resources like SHRM.org, EEOC.gov, and DOL.gov, and learn the benefits of attending industry conferences and hiring a knowledgeable consultant. Ricky also dispels common misconceptions around employment at will and right-to-work laws, underscoring the importance of understanding legal protections in employment practices.
Effective communication can make or break labor union elections, and Ricky shares compelling stories highlighting this truth. One notable case from a New York City restaurant reveals how language barriers led to misunderstandings about sick pay entitlements, stressing the need for language-appropriate communication tools. Hear how accurate information prevented unionization and why expert guidance is crucial in navigating labor laws. Tune in to gain actionable insights and stay ahead of legal updates in the ever-changing landscape of labor laws!
Additional Resources:
1. 4 Communication Styles in the Workplace and How to Manage Them
2. Let’s Talk About Unions in the Workplace
3. HR Consulting Services
🧠 WANT TO LEARN MORE? Be sure to subscribe and check out 4 Corner Resources at https://www.4cornerresources.com/
👋 FOLLOW PETE NEWSOME ONLINE:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petenewsome/
Blog Articles: https://www.4cornerresources.com/blog/
👋 FOLLOW RICKY BAEZ ONLINE:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/efrainrickybaez/
Blog Articles: https://www.baezco.com/baezco-blog
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Pete Newsome (00:00):
Welcome back everyone.
I'm speaking today with HRconsultant Ricky Baez.
Today's topic is employmentlabor laws.
Ricky, how are you today?
Ricky Baez (00:07):
I am doing great Pete.
How about you?
Pete Newsome (00:09):
I'm doing all right, but, man, I've got to
tell you, as a business owner,this one hits really close to
home, because when I started mycompany 20 years ago, one of the
things that I struggled withwas understanding employment,
labor laws and where I'm evensupposed to go to get
information.
Can we just start there?
Ricky Baez (00:24):
employment, labor laws and where I'm even supposed
to go to get information.
Can we just start there?
Absolutely so it's Pete, I'lltell you this Wikipedia is not
it.
Wikipedia is not it.
Obviously, what comes topeople's mind is you know, I can
Google it.
Right, you can, but then youhave to figure out what is
credible information and what isnot right.
So one of the best ways that youcan find out exactly what's out
there, to keep your finger onthe pulse, is go to official
(00:48):
websites that vet thisinformation.
One of them is SHRMorg, theSociety for Human Resource
Organizationorg.
That's a very good organizationand you can trust that any
information they put out.
They're very good at puttingnew laws and new statutes out
there that affect employment andlabor law.
That way everybody knows aboutit.
They are really good at makingsure that not only they
(01:10):
communicate it, but it'sunderstood for anybody that's
not an attorney.
So I would say SHRM would be thebest place to go.
That's number one.
The second one, because I'vegot three of them.
The second one is go toconferences.
Conferences is one of the bestways to share knowledge.
You got people from all overthe world that come to one area
to talk about the same topic,being attacked by 25,000
(01:33):
different points of view.
So you can go ahead and justmake sure that you go to a
conference and send somebody toa conference and bring that
information back into the office.
The third, and I think it's theeasiest one get a consultant.
It's just easier to get aconsultant to come in who will
go to those conferences and willmake sure that these new laws
and these new statutes areapplied to your business
(01:56):
appropriately, because that HRconsultant will know your
business.
So that is the best way to stayon top of the new changes.
Pete Newsome (02:02):
Now, ricky, as an HR guy, I know this may surprise
you, but I'm probably not goingto conferences learning about
labor laws.
I know we all like to spend ourtime that way, but it's not
practical for everyone.
So there's constant changes.
We know that with the law.
If I don't have a consultantand I agree with you, by the way
, and that's how you and I knoweach other, of course, because I
(02:25):
lean on you for thisinformation but if I didn't have
you, where could I go to keepup with changes?
Or what's maybe a better way toask is what's a strategy for
keeping up with changes in laborlaws?
Ricky Baez (02:36):
You go to the EEOC website and then you submit your
email.
That way you get these updates.
Here's the problem with that,pete your email.
That way you get these updates.
Here's the problem with that,pete.
Right it's.
I would advise it.
But the problem is it's they putthe actual law out there, right
?
You're going to need somebodyto translate that from legalese
to make sense to the averagebusiness owner, because it's, at
(02:58):
the end of the day, the law.
Does not care whether the ownerunderstands the law or not.
It is up to the owner, thebusiness owner, and it's their
responsibility to understandwhat the law means.
So that's going to cost youmore money.
Right?
Because either you spend thetime to filter through
everything to see what appliesto you, or you get an attorney
to do it that's not going to becheap or you get an HR
(03:18):
consultant to do it.
So the best way, if you're notgoing to have a consultant out
there, just go into thosedifferent websites.
And, of course, those websitesreally depend on how big your
business is.
Right, because some peoplethink just because they got 10
employees, the laws don't apply.
They kind of do right, everylevel with a 10, 15, 20, even 50
(03:42):
employees, you got differentlaws that apply to you.
That's why I'm saying the bestthing to do is get a consultant.
But in the absence of that, youjust got to make sure you
subscribe to those knownwebsites shermorg, the eeocgov
or dolgov.
That will definitely help youout.
Pete Newsome (03:58):
Ricky, today's video is filled with surprising
things.
First we learned not everybusiness owner wants to go to HR
conferences, and now I have tosay not everyone, not the
government.
That isn't always clear intheir information.
So you know these things aresurprising to everyone, but
let's talk about a differentkind of surprise misconceptions
of labor laws.
What do you see that's commonlymisunderstood out there?
Ricky Baez (04:22):
The biggest one and I don't know if this will
surprise you or not is people'sunderstanding of employment at
will.
Man, let's spend some time onthat.
People think employment at willand right to work are the same
thing.
They're not Two very differentthings.
So right to work has more to dowith unions, right Employment
(04:42):
at will.
At the end of the day, what thatmeans is it says that you, as
an employer, can fire anybodyfor whatever reason.
That's not protected by law.
The biggest misconception ispeople don't read that last part
.
That's not protected by lawright Now.
At the same time, an employeenow I'm talking about an
employee, not a contractor canleave the organization for no
(05:04):
reason whatsoever.
49 out of 50 states in theUnited States are employment at
will.
Montana is the only state thatis not employment at will.
You need a reason both ways.
So that to me, that is thebiggest misconception and here's
what we need to do with that.
And here's what I tell all myclients, because they ask me
Ricky, if I can fire anybody forany reason, that's not
(05:25):
protected by law.
Why are you always telling meto document, document every
conversation, document everyinfraction?
The reason you should documentit is because if you, as an
employee, you fire somebody.
So, for example, for thisparticular example, pete, you
and I work together, right, andyou fire me because I'm a man.
I mean you would never do that,right.
And you fire me because I'm aman.
I mean you would never do thatright.
But you fire me because I'm aman, right and it's.
(05:48):
Or, better yet, you fire me forno reason, no reason whatsoever
.
I go to the EEOC, I file acomplaint and I say he fired me
because I'm a guy.
Again, that will never happenwith just an example, the EEOC.
Then they're going to ask youso why did you fire him?
(06:11):
What are you going to say?
What are you going to say?
So now you're stuck right.
You want to have a reasondocumented, because if you don't
have a reason, you're going tospend a lot of legal dollars
trying to prove yourself right.
At the end of the day, you'regoing to end up on the right
side of the law, but it's goingto cost you 20 grand in legal
fees.
Save the money and justdocument the entire process and
(06:33):
you should be good.
Pete Newsome (06:34):
Let me give you a little twist on that with a
question.
Let's say I fired you becauseyou were consistently late for
work.
You know, it, I know it,everyone else on the team knows
it, but then you go and make aclaim and say I fired you
because of age discrimination,for example.
Ricky Baez (06:50):
Okay.
Pete Newsome (06:54):
Now, is it safe to say that I'm probably going to
win that lawsuit, but I may haveto spend a lot of money to get
there?
Is that why documentation is soimportant?
Ricky Baez (07:01):
That's correct.
It is.
And the reason you are going tobe okay is because the burden
of proof is on me.
I have to show that proof,right Me as a person filing that
claim.
Right, If I go ahead and startpursuing that and for some
reason I got money to get anattorney, you don't have to show
that proof, right Me as aperson filing that claim.
Right, If I go ahead and startpursuing that and for some
reason I got money to get anattorney, you now have to get
one too, right?
So you now have to get one.
(07:21):
And then, at the end ofeverything, if you come out on
top, you've got this $20,000legal bill.
Now can you come towards me torecoup that back?
Yeah, but what if I've got fivebucks to my name?
You're still out, Right?
(07:41):
So that's why I tell peoplejust make sure you document
everything.
That it makes it easier for youto defend yourself in case
somebody brings some kind of alawsuit.
Right, it's at the end of theday, really, is that simple?
Pete Newsome (07:48):
I want to understand exactly what you just
said about attorneys, because Ithink it's a universal truth
that nobody wants to hear fromthem, what you just said about
attorneys, because I think it'sa universal truth that nobody
wants to hear from them.
What's the best way to avoid?
Ricky Baez (07:56):
a lawsuit.
Document everything and focusjust on work, just on their
performance output.
Do not focus on theirpersonality, do not focus on
what they look like, do notfocus on what sex they are, if
your only focus is how they'reperforming at work or if your
only focus is the ethicalviolation and nothing about the
person, only the action, and youdocument everything.
(08:19):
That is the best way to makesure that you are on the right
side of the law in case you gethit with a lawsuit.
Right?
Because of course you know anattorney like I'm not a lawyer,
but a lawyer is bound by an oaththat if a client says, hey,
this has happened to me, theattorney has a reasonable
obligation to help them withthat process.
They kind of have to believethem reasonably, unless there's
(08:41):
a reason not to believe themthat might blow up in their face
.
So when you have that thing outthere, you have to make sure
that if somebody because lawyersare an expert at raising
reasonable doubts, they'reexpert at that.
That is what they're trained todo.
You have to make sure thatthere is no doubt in your
process that your case isairtight, and the best way to do
(09:01):
it is to document everythingand make sure you stay away from
personalities and only focus onthe infraction, and the
infraction only, becauseanything outside of that are
going to have holes poked incourt and it's not a pretty
sight.
Pete Newsome (09:14):
Get into the real world.
Can you share an example ofwhen you've leveraged your
expertise to help one of yourclients with the labor law
situation?
Ricky Baez (09:21):
Yes, actually, this was the best example is when I
used to be a W-2 employee and Iused to be an employee relations
manager for a large restaurantchain, and what I did there is
they grew so fast, pete, thatthey did a good job in training
leaders on how to be a leader.
But unionization stuff stuffwith unions wasn't really part
(09:44):
of that training program.
And when you have a lot ofleaders being shown that, a lot
of restaurants opening, and thenyou have some union folks walk
in and start making demands,that's a scary situation and
this organization was not readyfor that.
So what they sent me in and mygoal is, a, to understand what
(10:04):
the employees were complainingabout and, b, to teach leaders
how to make sure that, if we aregoing to have a unionization
election, how to do it properly,how to do it properly.
So here's something that theydid not know.
Right, in the union world,right, the only thing you need
to ratify a contract is if youhave an election and 50% of the
(10:27):
people that vote, plus one morevote a certain way, that's the
vote that wins, plus one morevote a certain way, that's the
vote that wins.
Now, notice I said 50% of thepeople that show up.
So that means if a restauranthas 300 employees and only 10
people show up to vote, all youneed is six people to say yes
and it ratifies a contract forthe entire 300-person restaurant
.
So my strategy was is let's notdiscourage people from voting,
(10:54):
let's encourage to vote.
Let's encourage them to vote.
Let's let them know whatbenefits they can get.
Let's be honest, open andhonest of what happens if we get
a union.
And we got to be careful withthat, because the law says I
only have a limited way, alimited amount of time or a
limited way of explaining that,because there are things we
can't do from a leadershipperspective.
(11:15):
But it's not fair.
But the point I'm making hereis I encourage everybody to come
vote, every single person.
The manager's like why, ricky?
I'm like because the morepeople that come out to vote,
the less likely they'll get ayes vote, as long as we
communicate exactly what itmeans for us to have a union.
(11:36):
And here's what happened.
Are you ready for this, pete?
This is going to blow your mind.
Dude, this is going to blowyour mind.
I'm ready.
This restaurant was in New YorkCity, downtown, right, and the
first thing I did I went to theback of the house.
So for those of you who don'tknow how a restaurant, there's
the back of the house whereeverything's cooked.
There's a front of the housewhere everything's served In the
back of the house.
I'm working with the people inthe back and I'm like hey, why?
I'm just curious, why do youwant a union?
(11:58):
The guy's just like well, youknow, we don't have any sick pay
.
The union guy came in here andsays that we need sick pay.
Darn, it's not giving it to us.
I'm not only that.
You're in New York City.
In New York City, organizationsthis size are forced to pay out
sick pay.
You know what happened, pete?
(12:20):
95% of the people in the back ofthe house spoke only Spanish.
They didn't know English.
They didn't read English.
The employee handbook was inEnglish.
So I asked the restaurantmanager and I'm like how do you
communicate?
Do you speak Spanish?
He's like no, I mean, apaycheck number in English is
the same as in Spanish.
I'm like okay, that means agood point, I get it, but why
(12:43):
don't you have people that speakEnglish?
He's like Ricky, hr told mehere's another misconception.
Hr told me that's an illegalquestion.
I can't ask them if they speakEnglish or Spanish.
I'm like stop, it is only anillegal question.
If that skillset is notnecessary for the job, pitching
in the back is dangerous.
(13:04):
You need that, you need to know.
So let's get that out of yourhead, please.
You can ask if you can speakEnglish.
Right, and you can require itbecause it's necessary for this
job.
Right, that's the moment.
Number two you need to have theemployee handbook in Spanish
then, because half the people inthe back actually most of the
back don't understand that.
They do get sick pay and theseunion guys are lying to them,
(13:26):
and that's where we got theseissues.
They do get sick pay and theseunion guys are lying to them,
and that's why we got theseissues.
Long story short like 150people showed up right,
overwhelmed, overwhelminglyright, no union, and it worked
out beautifully.
So had I not have had thatconversation with the GM, and
the GM would have preventedpeople from coming in right,
that would have been disastrous,because if uninformed people
(13:48):
come in voting for somethingthey would lie to, all you need
is six people.
If 10 show up, pete, and thenthey're in trouble.
So that's why I mean that isone example of where it was a
great outcome, but it was kindof hard to get there.
Pete Newsome (14:00):
Well, ricky, from that example and from everything
else you shared today, mytakeaway is this there's a lot
of complexity to employment,labor laws.
As a business owner, odds aremy time is spent on other things
things that are part of theactual business that I'm running
and I should rely on an expert,because it's just too deep and
(14:20):
too meaningful and too importantnot to have the right
information and the right persongiving guidance along the way.
So, like I said earlier, that'swhat I have you for.
Everyone should have someonelike you in their camp, ricky,
to help out.
So, thanks for listening today,ask us any questions in the
comments and follow us for moreTalk to you soon.
Have a good one.
Welcome back everyone.
I'm speaking today with HRconsultant Ricky Baez.
Today's topic is employmentlabor laws.
Ricky, how are you today?
Ricky Baez (00:07):
I am doing great Pete.
How about you?
Pete Newsome (00:09):
I'm doing all right, but, man, I've got to
tell you, as a business owner,this one hits really close to
home, because when I started mycompany 20 years ago, one of the
things that I struggled withwas understanding employment,
labor laws and where I'm evensupposed to go to get
information.
Can we just start there?
Ricky Baez (00:24):
employment, labor laws and where I'm even supposed
to go to get information.
Can we just start there?
Absolutely so it's Pete, I'lltell you this Wikipedia is not
it.
Wikipedia is not it.
Obviously, what comes topeople's mind is you know, I can
Google it.
Right, you can, but then youhave to figure out what is
credible information and what isnot right.
So one of the best ways that youcan find out exactly what's out
there, to keep your finger onthe pulse, is go to official
(00:48):
websites that vet thisinformation.
One of them is SHRMorg, theSociety for Human Resource
Organizationorg.
That's a very good organizationand you can trust that any
information they put out.
They're very good at puttingnew laws and new statutes out
there that affect employment andlabor law.
That way everybody knows aboutit.
They are really good at makingsure that not only they
(01:10):
communicate it, but it'sunderstood for anybody that's
not an attorney.
So I would say SHRM would be thebest place to go.
That's number one.
The second one, because I'vegot three of them.
The second one is go toconferences.
Conferences is one of the bestways to share knowledge.
You got people from all overthe world that come to one area
to talk about the same topic,being attacked by 25,000
(01:33):
different points of view.
So you can go ahead and justmake sure that you go to a
conference and send somebody toa conference and bring that
information back into the office.
The third, and I think it's theeasiest one get a consultant.
It's just easier to get aconsultant to come in who will
go to those conferences and willmake sure that these new laws
and these new statutes areapplied to your business
(01:56):
appropriately, because that HRconsultant will know your
business.
So that is the best way to stayon top of the new changes.
Pete Newsome (02:02):
Now, ricky, as an HR guy, I know this may surprise
you, but I'm probably not goingto conferences learning about
labor laws.
I know we all like to spend ourtime that way, but it's not
practical for everyone.
So there's constant changes.
We know that with the law.
If I don't have a consultantand I agree with you, by the way
, and that's how you and I knoweach other, of course, because I
(02:25):
lean on you for thisinformation but if I didn't have
you, where could I go to keepup with changes?
Or what's maybe a better way toask is what's a strategy for
keeping up with changes in laborlaws?
Ricky Baez (02:36):
You go to the EEOC website and then you submit your
email.
That way you get these updates.
Here's the problem with that,pete your email.
That way you get these updates.
Here's the problem with that,pete.
Right it's.
I would advise it.
But the problem is it's they putthe actual law out there, right
?
You're going to need somebodyto translate that from legalese
to make sense to the averagebusiness owner, because it's, at
(02:58):
the end of the day, the law.
Does not care whether the ownerunderstands the law or not.
It is up to the owner, thebusiness owner, and it's their
responsibility to understandwhat the law means.
So that's going to cost youmore money.
Right?
Because either you spend thetime to filter through
everything to see what appliesto you, or you get an attorney
to do it that's not going to becheap or you get an HR
(03:18):
consultant to do it.
So the best way, if you're notgoing to have a consultant out
there, just go into thosedifferent websites.
And, of course, those websitesreally depend on how big your
business is.
Right, because some peoplethink just because they got 10
employees, the laws don't apply.
They kind of do right, everylevel with a 10, 15, 20, even 50
(03:42):
employees, you got differentlaws that apply to you.
That's why I'm saying the bestthing to do is get a consultant.
But in the absence of that, youjust got to make sure you
subscribe to those knownwebsites shermorg, the eeocgov
or dolgov.
That will definitely help youout.
Pete Newsome (03:58):
Ricky, today's video is filled with surprising
things.
First we learned not everybusiness owner wants to go to HR
conferences, and now I have tosay not everyone, not the
government.
That isn't always clear intheir information.
So you know these things aresurprising to everyone, but
let's talk about a differentkind of surprise misconceptions
of labor laws.
What do you see that's commonlymisunderstood out there?
Ricky Baez (04:22):
The biggest one and I don't know if this will
surprise you or not is people'sunderstanding of employment at
will.
Man, let's spend some time onthat.
People think employment at willand right to work are the same
thing.
They're not Two very differentthings.
So right to work has more to dowith unions, right Employment
(04:42):
at will.
At the end of the day, what thatmeans is it says that you, as
an employer, can fire anybodyfor whatever reason.
That's not protected by law.
The biggest misconception ispeople don't read that last part
.
That's not protected by lawright Now.
At the same time, an employeenow I'm talking about an
employee, not a contractor canleave the organization for no
(05:04):
reason whatsoever.
49 out of 50 states in theUnited States are employment at
will.
Montana is the only state thatis not employment at will.
You need a reason both ways.
So that to me, that is thebiggest misconception and here's
what we need to do with that.
And here's what I tell all myclients, because they ask me
Ricky, if I can fire anybody forany reason, that's not
(05:25):
protected by law.
Why are you always telling meto document, document every
conversation, document everyinfraction?
The reason you should documentit is because if you, as an
employee, you fire somebody.
So, for example, for thisparticular example, pete, you
and I work together, right, andyou fire me because I'm a man.
I mean you would never do that,right.
And you fire me because I'm aman.
I mean you would never do thatright.
But you fire me because I'm aman, right and it's.
(05:48):
Or, better yet, you fire me forno reason, no reason whatsoever
.
I go to the EEOC, I file acomplaint and I say he fired me
because I'm a guy.
Again, that will never happenwith just an example, the EEOC.
Then they're going to ask youso why did you fire him?
(06:11):
What are you going to say?
What are you going to say?
So now you're stuck right.
You want to have a reasondocumented, because if you don't
have a reason, you're going tospend a lot of legal dollars
trying to prove yourself right.
At the end of the day, you'regoing to end up on the right
side of the law, but it's goingto cost you 20 grand in legal
fees.
Save the money and justdocument the entire process and
(06:33):
you should be good.
Pete Newsome (06:34):
Let me give you a little twist on that with a
question.
Let's say I fired you becauseyou were consistently late for
work.
You know, it, I know it,everyone else on the team knows
it, but then you go and make aclaim and say I fired you
because of age discrimination,for example.
Ricky Baez (06:50):
Okay.
Pete Newsome (06:54):
Now, is it safe to say that I'm probably going to
win that lawsuit, but I may haveto spend a lot of money to get
there?
Is that why documentation is soimportant?
Ricky Baez (07:01):
That's correct.
It is.
And the reason you are going tobe okay is because the burden
of proof is on me.
I have to show that proof,right Me as a person filing that
claim.
Right, If I go ahead and startpursuing that and for some
reason I got money to get anattorney, you don't have to show
that proof, right Me as aperson filing that claim.
Right, If I go ahead and startpursuing that and for some
reason I got money to get anattorney, you now have to get
one too, right?
So you now have to get one.
(07:21):
And then, at the end ofeverything, if you come out on
top, you've got this $20,000legal bill.
Now can you come towards me torecoup that back?
Yeah, but what if I've got fivebucks to my name?
You're still out, Right?
(07:41):
So that's why I tell peoplejust make sure you document
everything.
That it makes it easier for youto defend yourself in case
somebody brings some kind of alawsuit.
Right, it's at the end of theday, really, is that simple?
Pete Newsome (07:48):
I want to understand exactly what you just
said about attorneys, because Ithink it's a universal truth
that nobody wants to hear fromthem, what you just said about
attorneys, because I think it'sa universal truth that nobody
wants to hear from them.
What's the best way to avoid?
Ricky Baez (07:56):
a lawsuit.
Document everything and focusjust on work, just on their
performance output.
Do not focus on theirpersonality, do not focus on
what they look like, do notfocus on what sex they are, if
your only focus is how they'reperforming at work or if your
only focus is the ethicalviolation and nothing about the
person, only the action, and youdocument everything.
(08:19):
That is the best way to makesure that you are on the right
side of the law in case you gethit with a lawsuit.
Right?
Because of course you know anattorney like I'm not a lawyer,
but a lawyer is bound by an oaththat if a client says, hey,
this has happened to me, theattorney has a reasonable
obligation to help them withthat process.
They kind of have to believethem reasonably, unless there's
(08:41):
a reason not to believe themthat might blow up in their face
.
So when you have that thing outthere, you have to make sure
that if somebody because lawyersare an expert at raising
reasonable doubts, they'reexpert at that.
That is what they're trained todo.
You have to make sure thatthere is no doubt in your
process that your case isairtight, and the best way to do
(09:01):
it is to document everythingand make sure you stay away from
personalities and only focus onthe infraction, and the
infraction only, becauseanything outside of that are
going to have holes poked incourt and it's not a pretty
sight.
Pete Newsome (09:14):
Get into the real world.
Can you share an example ofwhen you've leveraged your
expertise to help one of yourclients with the labor law
situation?
Ricky Baez (09:21):
Yes, actually, this was the best example is when I
used to be a W-2 employee and Iused to be an employee relations
manager for a large restaurantchain, and what I did there is
they grew so fast, pete, thatthey did a good job in training
leaders on how to be a leader.
But unionization stuff stuffwith unions wasn't really part
(09:44):
of that training program.
And when you have a lot ofleaders being shown that, a lot
of restaurants opening, and thenyou have some union folks walk
in and start making demands,that's a scary situation and
this organization was not readyfor that.
So what they sent me in and mygoal is, a, to understand what
(10:04):
the employees were complainingabout and, b, to teach leaders
how to make sure that, if we aregoing to have a unionization
election, how to do it properly,how to do it properly.
So here's something that theydid not know.
Right, in the union world,right, the only thing you need
to ratify a contract is if youhave an election and 50% of the
(10:27):
people that vote, plus one morevote a certain way, that's the
vote that wins, plus one morevote a certain way, that's the
vote that wins.
Now, notice I said 50% of thepeople that show up.
So that means if a restauranthas 300 employees and only 10
people show up to vote, all youneed is six people to say yes
and it ratifies a contract forthe entire 300-person restaurant
.
So my strategy was is let's notdiscourage people from voting,
(10:54):
let's encourage to vote.
Let's encourage them to vote.
Let's let them know whatbenefits they can get.
Let's be honest, open andhonest of what happens if we get
a union.
And we got to be careful withthat, because the law says I
only have a limited way, alimited amount of time or a
limited way of explaining that,because there are things we
can't do from a leadershipperspective.
(11:15):
But it's not fair.
But the point I'm making hereis I encourage everybody to come
vote, every single person.
The manager's like why, ricky?
I'm like because the morepeople that come out to vote,
the less likely they'll get ayes vote, as long as we
communicate exactly what itmeans for us to have a union.
(11:36):
And here's what happened.
Are you ready for this, pete?
This is going to blow your mind.
Dude, this is going to blowyour mind.
I'm ready.
This restaurant was in New YorkCity, downtown, right, and the
first thing I did I went to theback of the house.
So for those of you who don'tknow how a restaurant, there's
the back of the house whereeverything's cooked.
There's a front of the housewhere everything's served In the
back of the house.
I'm working with the people inthe back and I'm like hey, why?
I'm just curious, why do youwant a union?
(11:58):
The guy's just like well, youknow, we don't have any sick pay
.
The union guy came in here andsays that we need sick pay.
Darn, it's not giving it to us.
I'm not only that.
You're in New York City.
In New York City, organizationsthis size are forced to pay out
sick pay.
You know what happened, pete?
(12:20):
95% of the people in the back ofthe house spoke only Spanish.
They didn't know English.
They didn't read English.
The employee handbook was inEnglish.
So I asked the restaurantmanager and I'm like how do you
communicate?
Do you speak Spanish?
He's like no, I mean, apaycheck number in English is
the same as in Spanish.
I'm like okay, that means agood point, I get it, but why
(12:43):
don't you have people that speakEnglish?
He's like Ricky, hr told mehere's another misconception.
Hr told me that's an illegalquestion.
I can't ask them if they speakEnglish or Spanish.
I'm like stop, it is only anillegal question.
If that skillset is notnecessary for the job, pitching
in the back is dangerous.
(13:04):
You need that, you need to know.
So let's get that out of yourhead, please.
You can ask if you can speakEnglish.
Right, and you can require itbecause it's necessary for this
job.
Right, that's the moment.
Number two you need to have theemployee handbook in Spanish
then, because half the people inthe back actually most of the
back don't understand that.
They do get sick pay and theseunion guys are lying to them,
(13:26):
and that's where we got theseissues.
They do get sick pay and theseunion guys are lying to them,
and that's why we got theseissues.
Long story short like 150people showed up right,
overwhelmed, overwhelminglyright, no union, and it worked
out beautifully.
So had I not have had thatconversation with the GM, and
the GM would have preventedpeople from coming in right,
that would have been disastrous,because if uninformed people
(13:48):
come in voting for somethingthey would lie to, all you need
is six people.
If 10 show up, pete, and thenthey're in trouble.
So that's why I mean that isone example of where it was a
great outcome, but it was kindof hard to get there.
Pete Newsome (14:00):
Well, ricky, from that example and from everything
else you shared today, mytakeaway is this there's a lot
of complexity to employment,labor laws.
As a business owner, odds aremy time is spent on other things
things that are part of theactual business that I'm running
and I should rely on an expert,because it's just too deep and
(14:20):
too meaningful and too importantnot to have the right
information and the right persongiving guidance along the way.
So, like I said earlier, that'swhat I have you for.
Everyone should have someonelike you in their camp, ricky,
to help out.
So, thanks for listening today,ask us any questions in the
comments and follow us for moreTalk to you soon.
Have a good one.
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