About 60 million nonunionized workers in the private sector are covered by arbitration agreements that bar them from going to court to sue over alleged violations of federal workplace laws, including civil rights and anti-discrimination measures, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal-leaning group in Washington. About 25 million of these private-sector workers are also barred from joining class-action or group claims before an arbitrator. The Supreme Court will decide whether the workers can act together or alone. Unionized workers can take collective action through bargaining.
Los Angeles Times
October 2, 2017
A new study from the Economic Policy Institute found that over 60 million American workers are subject to mandatory arbitration clauses, and that nearly 25 million workers have waived their right to bring a collective action. Not only must these employees bring claims against their employer in arbitration, they must do so all alone.
The Hill
October 2, 2017
According to a study published this week by Alexander Colvin of Cornell, more than half (54%) of private, non-unionized workplaces have mandatory arbitration procedures. For larger companies (over 1,000 workers), that jumps to 65%. By contrast, in 2003 Colvin found that just 14% of companies had arbitration agreements—it’s worth noting that the 2003 study had differing methodology—and separate studies from the early 90s pegged that rate at or below 8%. While the comparison isn’t apples to apples, Colvin says it’s clear that asking employees to sign arbitration agreements is far more common today.
Quartz
October 2, 2017
This is the first conclusion reached by the institute Economic Policy Institute (EPI), in a report published this week and warns that the situation may worsen because the Supreme Court will face in October a series of cases to decide whether or not it is legal for arbitration clauses to waive class actions.
La Opinion
October 2, 2017
On October 2, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case that implicates the very concept of collective action. NLRB v. Murphy Oil asks whether it is a violation of workers’ rights to force them to enter into arbitration agreements that prohibit collective or class litigation. Such agreements, often entered into as conditions of employment, require workers who want to sue their employers to do so individually in a private arbitration setting, rather than as a class of aggrieved workers who can pool their resources and knowledge. According to a recent study by the Economic Policy Institute, more than 60 million U.S. workers have now lost access to the courts because of such forced arbitration agreements.
In These Times
October 2, 2017
“If the Supreme Court sides with corporate interests and the Trump administration, workers will likely be forced to sign away the long-held right to join together with their co-workers to address workplace disputes,” said Celine McNicholas, counsel for the Economic Policy Institute(link is external), a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. McNicholas, who has published a long analysis of the case, said arbitration cases are costly for individual employees and are usually won by employers.
Workday Minnesota
October 2, 2017
Arbitration agreements required by employers have increased significantly over the last two decades, according to a report from the Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. Its report, based on a national survey of employers, found that more than 60 million Americans are now covered by arbitration agreements at work. It also found that since the early 2000s, the number of workers subject to mandatory arbitration has doubled, now exceeding 55 percent of the American workforce.
KPVI
October 2, 2017
A recent study from the Economic Policy Institute estimates that 60 million workers in the United States are subject to forced arbitration clauses, and of those 25 million are subject to an individual arbitration requirement, barring class, collective or group action. If the Supreme Court decides this case in favor of corporations, we can expect those numbers to rise, while it becomes more and more difficult for workers to access our court system.
Above the Law
October 2, 2017
Business Management Daily
More than half of private-sector nonunion workers must sign arbitration agreements as a condition of employment, according to a new study by the Economic Policy Institute. Arbitration agreements require employees to waive their right to sue to resolve employment disputes, instead of taking them to arbitration. They typically cover Title VII discrimination and harassment charges, Fair Labor Standards Act wage-and-hour disputes and ADA and FMLA claims.
Business Management Daily
October 2, 2017
Josh Bivens, Economic Policy Institute research director, and Diana Furchtgott-Roth, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and director of its Economics21 program and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, weigh in on the new Republican tax plan.
The Brian Lehrer Show
September 29, 2017