NLRB Finds No Violation In Requiring Clocking Out For Prayer Breaks

The NLRB's Associate General Counsel has issued an Advice Memorandum dated April 12 (full text) concluding that the Hertz Co. did not violate the National Labor Relations Act when it required Somali Muslim employees at the Seattle-Tacoma (WA) airport to clock out and in for their prayer breaks. The memo concluded that "the employer did not unlawfully implement a midterm contract change ... because it had a sound arguable basis for its interpretation of the contract as permitting it to require that practice." The memo also concluded that Hertz did not violate the NLRA by suspending, and ultimately discharging, the employees who insisted that they would continue to refuse to clock out for prayer breaks. (See prior related posting.) [Thanks to CCH Employment Law Daily via Steven H. Sholk for the lead.]