Tag: NLRB

Labor & Employment

SCOTUS’s Curbing of Federal Agency Actions – A Tool to Place Guardrails on the NLRB’s Recent Policies to Expand its Reach under the NLRA

Written by Jonathan Turner and Eric Engelman On June 27 and 28, 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States issued two separate opinions that have placed judicial restraints on the scope of powers exercised by federal agencies to interpret and enforce statutes they are charged to administer.  In its opinion in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the Court ended four decades of deference to … Continue reading SCOTUS’s Curbing of Federal Agency Actions – A Tool to Place Guardrails on the NLRB’s Recent Policies to Expand its Reach under the NLRA

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Labor & Employment

Supreme Court Ruling Limits NLRB’s Ability to Obtain Preliminary Injunctions Against Employers

Written by Jonathan Turner and Eric D. Engelman In a closely watched case, the Supreme Court ruled against the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or Board) and in favor of Starbucks on the question of what the NLRB must prove before it can obtain a preliminary injunction against employers prior to fully litigating allegations contained in an unfair labor practice complaint issued by the NLRB.  … Continue reading Supreme Court Ruling Limits NLRB’s Ability to Obtain Preliminary Injunctions Against Employers

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Labor & Employment

NLRB Adopts a New Standard for Assessing the Lawfulness of Workplace Rules

Written by Jonathan Turner and Kyle DeCamp On August 2, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (the Board) issued a decision in Stericycle, Inc., 372 NLRB No. 113 (2023) that overruled existing Board precedent and established a standard by which existing workplace rules may be deemed facially unlawful under Section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act (the NLRA), even if the rules don’t expressly … Continue reading NLRB Adopts a New Standard for Assessing the Lawfulness of Workplace Rules

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Labor & Employment

NLRB Calls Into Question Confidentiality and Non-Disparagement Provisions in Agreements with Employees

Written by Jeremy Mittman, Jonathan Turner and Kyle DeCamp On February 21, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (the NLRB) issued a decision in McLaren Macomb, 372 NLRB No. 58 (2023), that will impact employers in both unionized and non-unionized workplaces.  The decision holds that employers violate the National Labor Relations Act (the NLRA) when they present employees with severance agreements that contain overly broad … Continue reading NLRB Calls Into Question Confidentiality and Non-Disparagement Provisions in Agreements with Employees

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Labor & Employment

NLRB Rules that Dues Deductions Continue After a Collective Bargaining Agreement’s Expiration

Written by Anthony Amendola and Eric Engelman As has become standard practice in our increasingly polarized nation, on October 3, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) again changed course on an issue of importance to labor and management. In Valley Hospital Medical Center, Inc. d/b/a Valley Hospital Medical Center, 371 NLRB No. 160 (2022), the NLRB ruled that employers must now continue to honor dues … Continue reading NLRB Rules that Dues Deductions Continue After a Collective Bargaining Agreement’s Expiration

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Labor & Employment

The NLRB Approves Confidentiality Rule with Regard to an Ongoing Employer Investigation

Written by Jeremy Mittman and Justine Wallace Can an employer ask employees to keep interviews conducted in the context of a workplace investigation confidential?  Yes, says the NLRB, in a helpful ruling for employers– that applies to both unionized and non-unionized workplaces. A majority 2-1 decision by the National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”) held that an employer did not violate federal law after instructing … Continue reading The NLRB Approves Confidentiality Rule with Regard to an Ongoing Employer Investigation

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Labor & Employment

The NLRB Approves Non-Disparagement, Non-Solicitation, and Email Workplace Rules

Written by Jeremy Mittman and Louise Truong The National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”) frequently evaluates employer policies regarding whether they violate employees’ rights to unionize under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”).  As such, it is essential for employers, including those who do not have union employees, to consider the Board’s decisions when drafting and reviewing their policies and handbooks.  Recently, … Continue reading The NLRB Approves Non-Disparagement, Non-Solicitation, and Email Workplace Rules

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Labor & Employment

TAKE THAT JOB AND SHOVE IT! NLRB ADOPTS NEW STANDARD FOR ADDRESSING OFFENSIVE STATEMENTS IN THE WORKPLACE

Written by Jeremy Mittman and Hilary Feybush Last week, the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) issued a decision making it easier for employers to lawfully discipline or terminate employees who make abusive or offensive statements – including profane, racists, and sexually unacceptable remarks – in the course of activity that would otherwise fall under the protection of the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”).   In … Continue reading TAKE THAT JOB AND SHOVE IT! NLRB ADOPTS NEW STANDARD FOR ADDRESSING OFFENSIVE STATEMENTS IN THE WORKPLACE

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COVID-19, Labor & Employment

NLRB Advice on COVID-19

NLRB’s General Counsel Issues Advice Concerning COVID-19

Written by Jonathan Turner

As federal, state and local measures are being enacted to help curb the spread of the Coronavirus, the General Counsel for the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) recently issued a memo intended to assist the public, employers and unions in analyzing the impact that emergency decision-making by unionized employers have on collective bargaining obligations.  The memo issued on March 27, 2020, and is directed to the Regional Directors, Officers-in-Charge and Resident Officers of the several NLRB field offices throughout the country.  The General Counsel has the sole statutory authority to determine whether to issue an unfair labor practice complaint for alleged violations of the National Labor Relations Act, including violations based on an employer’s alleged failure to bargain with a union over changes in business operations affecting employees represented by the union. Continue reading “NLRB Advice on COVID-19”

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Labor & Employment

NLRB Issues Final Rule on Joint-Employer Standard

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Photo Credit: istock.com/utah778

Written by Jeremy Mittman

Why This Matters

On Tuesday, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) announced that, on February 26, 2020, it will issue its final rule governing joint-employer status under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”).  Under the NLRB’s final rule, an entity may be considered a joint employer of a separate employer’s employees only if the two share or co-determine the employees’ essential terms and conditions of employment.  “Essential terms and conditions of employment” are specifically defined as wages, benefits, hours of work, hiring, discharge, discipline, supervision, and direction.  The Board’s intent in issuing the final rule is to restore the joint-employer standard that was applied for many years prior to the Board’s 2015 decision in Browning-Ferris.

The final rule will be effective April 27, 2020.  The NLRB’s Fact Sheet regarding the final rule is available here.

Continue reading “NLRB Issues Final Rule on Joint-Employer Standard”

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