Workers in Mercer County, New Jersey may want to pay attention: A new ruling by the National Labor Relations Board is now requiring all businesses to allow employees to bring collective claims in court or in arbitration, whichever way the employer chooses to provide. For those that signed away their rights to in-court disputes when becoming employed, this is great news.

It means that one of their important employee rights is still intact.

According to reports, millions of Americans have agreed to arbitration instead of court when a dispute arises with their employer. The agreement is usually made when a person is hired on as an employee and, if they refuse to agree, they may not be offered the job. Often these agreements also bar similar claims from being consolidated so several employees cannot join together in a complaint.

Despite this, the NLRB has stated that employees everywhere have the right to band together for concerted action against an employer. Furthermore, the board has said that this trumps any agreements made between an employee and an employer that disallow group claims.

Many business groups are upset with this decision. They are worried that class action lawsuits against employers may begin sprouting throughout the nation, but advocates for employee rights believe this to be an exaggeration.

An appeal by the dissatisfied business groups is expected to head to federal court, if it is filed. If they do so, it could be a showdown concerning the differences between unionized and nonunionized employees. According to one expert though, employees have had the federal right to combine forces for better working conditions since 1935, regardless of their union status.

Source: The New York Times, “Rights in the Workplace,” Jan. 14, 2012