On November 14, less than a week after his apology for misleading the nation that if you like your health care plan you can keep it, President Obama announced that those individuals who had their insurance policies cancelled can now keep those plans for one more year even if they don't meet the requirements of the ACA. Of course, this move raises serious questions. There is the immediate question whether the White House has the authority to do this rather than Congress. This also raises questions whether this can even be done logistically at such a late date and whether this will drive the price of insurance even higher, which is what the insurance industry has predicted. Just how this plays out is yet to be determined, but it definitely complicates an already confusing state of affairs.

Although most business owners, labor relations and human resource professionals are fully aware that Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act gives employees the right to organize, to form, join, or assist unions and to bargain collectively, many do not appreciate that Section 7 also gives employees the right "to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection."  This language has been the vehicle by which the NLRB has extended the Act's reach well beyond unionized workplaces and union organizing activity.  In the past year, we have seen an aggressive interpretation of Section 7 by the Board and a disturbing focus on the non-union workplace.