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Rufino Gaytán III

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Rufino has significant experience representing clients in labor matters, including collective bargaining, labor arbitrations, unfair labor practice claims and union election petitions, and has represented numerous clients before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

At the forefront of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rufino has helped employers navigate quickly changing federal, state and local employment law, including the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA); Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act; state and local “stay at home” and similar orders; and related issues of leave, accommodation and safety.

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Given the variety and complexity of tasks associated with operations management, automated systems, including those utilizing artificial intelligence (AI), are increasingly deployed by businesses to improve overall efficiencies. As part of this effort, the use of AI or related automated systems to track and monitor production, including employee activities, is becoming widespread. A 2022 New York Times survey revealed that eight out of the 10 largest private U.S. employers track individual workers, many in real time, to assess their productivity. Any process that utilizes electronic devices capable of being connected via network technology suddenly becomes a trove of data points that can be used to monitor or improve the process—or the employees engaged in the process.

High Temperature

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration plans to propose a new rule requiring employers to protect employees exposed to high temperatures at work. This federal government regulation is the first of its kind to provide protection from heat on the job. As the summer months arrive and heat records rise, employers would do well to examine OSHA’s proposal, and to understand the legal pitfalls facing employers under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA), should employees complain about or walk off the job due to excessive heat in the workplace.

Under a typical election scenario, a union files an election petition with the Board’s Regional Office, along with a “showing of interest” demonstrating enough employee support (at least 30% of the unit described in the petition) to justify an election. The union also serves the petition on the employer, along with a description of Board procedures, informing parties of their rights and obligations in the process, and a “statement of position” form.

On November 5, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor, through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), issued an Emergency Temporary Standard to Protect Workers from Coronavirus (ETS). The ETS covers employers with 100 or more employees—firm or company-wide—and provides options for compliance. The ETS requires covered employers to develop, implement, and enforce a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy. Alternatively, covered employers may adopt a policy requiring employees to choose between vaccination and regular COVID-19 testing and wearing a face covering at work. The ETS also requires covered employers to provide up to four hours of paid time to workers to get vaccinated and to allow for paid leave to recover from side effects.

The Labor Law Insider continues the discussion in this podcast episode with Tom Godar, Tom O’Day, Terry Potter and Rufino Gaytán on actions employers should take proactively to deter unions from garnering employee support in the workplace. Shifting social issues in and outside the workplace along with significant public support for labor unions subject all…

The Labor Law Insider takes on the recharged union optimism and activity in this podcast episode. Moderator Tom Godar is joined by members of Husch Blackwell’s Labor Law team, Terry Potter, Tom O’Day, and Rufino Gaytán, to discuss the increase in public support for unions, recent changes in organizing activities by unions, and implications for…

In episode 2 of the Labor Law Insider podcast, Husch Blackwell Attorneys Tom Godar, Rufino Gaytán, and Kat Pearlstone discuss the impacts of the impending policy shift on employer policies and workplace rules regarding:

  • Employee access to IT systems for  nonwork-related communications;
  • Facially neutral workplace rules that negatively impact protected concerted activity;
  • Confidentiality obligations during

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