Division of Advice

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On June 6, NLRB General Counsel Peter Robb, the NLRB’s chief prosecutor, issued a detailed, 20-page Memorandum to the NLRB Regional Offices entitled “Guidance on Handbook Rules Post-Boeing.” (As General Counsel, Robb decides which unfair labor practice charges filed in the various NLRB regional offices should be pursued. Through his memorandum, GC Robb…

The misclassification of an independent contractor is an unfair labor practice under the NLRA, according to Administrative Law Judge Dickie Montemayor. Intermodal Bridge Transp., No. 21-CA-157647 (Nov. 28, 2017).

ALJ Montemayor said that, because such misclassification chills future concerted activity and necessarily “deprives and conceals available protections” afforded to employees under the NLRA, misclassification…

The National Labor Relations Board’s General Counsel has assembled his latest wish-list of “hot-button” issues he hopes to present to the Board for decision when the right cases are presented to his office.

Because certain NLRB unfair labor practice cases “are of particular interest and would benefit from centralized consideration,” the General Counsel has determined…

An employer may discipline employees who engage in disloyal conduct by disclosing confidential information obtained in the course of their job duties, the Board’s Division of Advice has found, concluding that an employer did not commit an unfair labor practice (under Section 8(a)(1) of the NLRA) when it discharged an employee.  IAM District Lodge 751…

The National Labor Relations Board’s General Counsel appears intent on convincing the Board to change its precedent in at least two key areas.   According to the General Counsel’s February 25, 2014, Operations Management Memorandum, “Mandatory Submissions to Advice,” unfair labor practice charges involving the Board’s Register Guard decision and charges involving applicability of Weingarten principles…

An employer’s policies – one requiring confidentiality of workplace investigations and another requesting confidentiality – are unlawful under the NLRA, an NLRB Administrative Law Judge has held.  The Boeing Company, No. 19–CA–089374 (July 26, 2013).  ALJ Jeffrey Wedekind found both Boeing Company’s original policy and a revised policy on workplace investigations violated employees’ statutory…

Many employers maintain rules in their employee handbooks and/or personnel policies governing how investigations of possible employee misconduct will be handled. Such rules often include admonishments to employees about maintaining the confidentiality of the investigation and, therefore, they implicate Section 7 of the NLRA and protected concerted activity. Indeed, in Banner Health, 358 NLRB…

The National Labor Relations Board’s General Counsel’s Office’s Division of Advice has concluded that a union seeking to organize a construction employer’s drywall workers did not violate Section 8(b)(1)(A) of the National Labor Relations Act by  following the employer’s supervisors and managers aggressively in cars from the employer’s main office to various jobsites in the…

Under the National Labor Relations Act, an employer is not permitted to bypass a union and deal directly with employees in connection with their terms and conditions of employment. This direct dealing concept can become complicated, however, when an individual employee asserts a legal proceeding against the employer in which the employee’s union is…