The National Labor Relations Board is affording dozens of employers the chance to have cases involving the legality of their workplace rules re-evaluated under a 2017 Board decision. The Board decision overruled Obama-era Board precedent that hampered employers’ ability to maintain workplace conduct rules without running afoul of the National Labor Relations Act. The Board’s … Continue Reading
Employers waiting for the National Labor Relations Board’s revisions to union election rules will have to wait a bit longer. According to the latest agency regulatory agenda, that is a “long-term” action item, a downgrade from its prior ranking. This is a possible indication that revisions to the rules have become a less important priority … Continue Reading
The National Labor Relations Board has extended the deadline for submitting comments regarding its proposed rulemaking on the standard for determining joint-employer status under the National Labor Relations Act to December 13, 2018. The proposed rule was originally published in the Federal Register on September 14, 2018, and comments were due by November 13, 2018. … Continue Reading
National Labor Relations Board’s field office staff have been directed to prosecute a broader array of cases against unions that engage in negligent behavior toward their members, according to an internal memorandum obtained by Bloomberg BNA. The Office of the General Counsel Memorandum expresses a marked contrast to the Board’s historical position with respect to … Continue Reading
While the National Labor Relations Act allows states to enact right-to-work laws, it does not authorize local municipalities to do so, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, in Chicago, has held. I.U.O.E. Local 399 v. Village of Lincolnshire, No. 17-1300 & 17-1325 (7th Cir. Sept. 28, 2018). This decision is contrary to … Continue Reading
While I-9 compliance is important, companies cannot forget about other labor and employment laws. In May 2018, a meatpacking company in Illinois was caught between ICE and the National Labor Relations Board.ICE conducted an audit of the company’s I-9s. Upon notice of the audit, the company began implementing E-Verify. An NLRB judge ruled that the … Continue Reading
The National Labor Relations Board’s office of the General Counsel is urging the Board to overrule its decision in Purple Communications, Inc., 361 NLRB 1050 (2014), which allowed employees to use employer email systems for NLRA Section 7 purposes (e.g., union organizing and protected concerted activity) during nonworking time. On August 1, 2018, the Board invited … Continue Reading
The National Labor Relations Board has announced that it will publish a “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking” in the Federal Register regarding its joint-employer standard. The notice will be published on Friday, September 14. The proposed rule will adopt the pre-Browning-Ferris standard for determining if two or more employers are joint employers of employees. The “Notice … Continue Reading
The National Labor Relations Board has upheld an Administrative Law Judge’s decision to invalidate 11 severance agreements that provided payments to employees laid off shortly after an election in violation of the National Labor Relations Act. The 11 individuals were awarded full reinstatement and back pay. Terex, 366 N.L.R.B. No. 162 (Aug. 21, 2018). The … Continue Reading
The National Labor Relations Board will reconsider whether an employer can discipline an employee for the act of filing a class action, which has long been held to be protected concerted activity under the National Labor Relations Act. Cordua Restaurants, Inc., 16-CA-161380 (Aug. 15, 2018) (Cordua II). The Board, sua sponte, vacated its Decision and … Continue Reading
Mark Gaston Pearce has been nominated by President Donald Trump to serve a third term on the National Labor Relations Board. Pearce, a 2010 recess-appointee under then-President Barack Obama, was reappointed to a second term in 2013. That term expired on August 27, 2018. Pearce’s nomination now heads to the Senate for consideration. Pearce was … Continue Reading
The National Labor Relations Board’s General Counsel’s office has issued an internal Memorandum (“Changes to Case Processing Part 1”) to all regional directors, officers-in-charge, and resident officers announcing immediate enactment of case processing changes. The six-page memorandum, obtained by Bloomberg BNA, addresses four policies. Memorandum ICG 18-06 (July 30, 2018). According to the Memorandum, the … Continue Reading
The National Labor Relations Board has invited briefs on whether it should modify or overrule its rule under the National Labor Relations Act, established in Purple Communications, that employers must permit employees who have been provided access to their employer’s email system to use that system for statutorily protected communications on their non-working time. Rio … Continue Reading
An employee’s Weingarten rights have limits, especially as to drug and alcohol testing, where time is often of the essence, an NLRB Administrative Law Judge has held. Fred Meyer Stores, Inc., No. 19-CA-206136 (July 2, 2018). The National Labor Relations Board has long-recognized unionized employees’ right to have a union representative present for investigative meetings … Continue Reading
The Trump Administration is being asked not to give Member Mark Gaston Pearce, one of two remaining Democrats on the National Labor Relations Board, another term after his current term, his second, expires on August 27, Bloomberg BNA has reported. Industry groups reportedly have asked the President to delay re-nominating Member Pearce to a third … Continue Reading
The National Labor Relations Board has announced it will begin a pilot program to encourage parties to use its Alternative Dispute Resolution program. Under the pilot program, the NLRB’s Office of the Executive Secretary will proactively engage parties with cases pending before the Board to determine whether the case is suitable for ADR. The process … Continue Reading
An employer lawfully unilaterally implemented a stricter tardiness and absentee policy even though a union had recently won an election to represent its workers, according to a memorandum released by the National Labor Relations Board General Counsel’s Division of Advice. Cott Beverages, Inc., No. 16-CA-206068 (Div. of Advice, Apr. 26, 2018, released May 15, 2018). … Continue Reading
The National Labor Relations Board General Counsel’s Division of Advice has concluded that an employer could refuse to allow a union’s representatives to record monthly team meetings and investigatory interviews. GE Appliances, Haier, 21-CA-202535 (Div. of Advice, Apr. 17, 2018, released May 15, 2018). The Division found the refusal was lawful based upon the Board’s … Continue Reading
New NLRB Chairman John Ring has stated that the Board intends to use rulemaking to create a new joint employer standard. The statement was in response to a May 29 letter from Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Bernie Sanders that harshly questioned whether the agency planned to use rulemaking to create a new … Continue Reading
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 has instructed … Continue Reading
The National Labor Relations Board has begun the process to consider rulemaking to establish a standard for determining joint employer status under the National Labor Relations Act, according to the Board’s filing in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. The current standard is set forth in Browning-Ferris Industries, 362 NLRB No. 186 … Continue Reading
Class action waivers in employment arbitration agreements do not violate federal law, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a much-anticipated decision in three critical cases. Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, No. 16-285; Ernst & Young LLP et al. v. Morris et al., No. 16-300; National Labor Relations Board v. Murphy Oil USA, Inc., et … Continue Reading
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has refused to enforce the NLRB’s order finding that an employee’s discharge violated the National Labor Relations Act because the Board did not satisfy the Supreme Court’s two-prong Jefferson Standard test for determining whether an employee’s disparaging statements to third parties about his employer … Continue Reading
Jackson Lewis, which has represented management before the National Labor Relations Board for 60 years, has filed its comments suggesting several important changes to the NLRB’s far-reaching 2014 election rule amendments. In December 2017, the Board asked the public to submit comments on the efficacy of its 2014 election rule amendments, expressly asking if … Continue Reading
