As we previously predicted, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) issued its decision in American Steel Construction, Inc. (available...) and yet again overruled another case decided under the Trump...more
The constant fluctuations in precedent at the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) continue as the Board overrules another case decided under the Trump Administration. This time the NLRB has set its sights...more
On the heels of the Labor Day weekend, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and request for comments (NPRM) that would once again change the joint employer legal standard. The...more
Under well-settled, decades-old precedent, employers have historically been free to hold mandatory “captive audience” meetings to educate employees, share views on unionization, and discuss what employees’ rights are with...more
The National Labor Relations Board (Board or NLRB) could reverse a 2019 decision holding that honest, albeit mistaken, classification decisions and announcements to employees do not violate the National Labor Relations Act...more
The National Labor Relations Board is pushing forward with its plan to cooperate more closely with other Federal agencies tasked with overseeing employment law. This follows an announcement in November 2021 that the National...more
2/14/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Government Agencies ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
OSHA ,
Regulatory Oversight
On July 21, 2021, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) issued a 3-1 decision affirming its precedent that displaying banners and a large inflatable rat (“Scabby the Rat”) near neutral employers does not...more
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released its long-awaited COVID-19 vaccine guidance for employers on December 16, 2020, providing answers related to workplace requirements about COVID-19 vaccines. With...more
12/21/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Exempt-Employees ,
GINA ,
Health and Safety ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Exemption ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
When it comes to whether unions have a right to enter an employer’s premises over the employer’s objections, California’s law is the polar opposite of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and the law in most other states....more
11/20/2020
/ Agricultural Sector ,
Agricultural Workers ,
Business & Professions Code ,
Cannabis Products ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fifth Amendment ,
Marijuana Cultivation ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Private Property ,
Public Sector Unions ,
Right-To-Access ,
SCOTUS ,
State and Local Government ,
Takings Clause ,
Trespass ,
Unions
On September 18, the Board’s GC issued GC Memo 20-14, entitled Summaries of Advice Merit Determinations Related to Coronavirus Disease 2019 Issues for the purpose of giving the public a better understanding of the GC’s...more
9/23/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Duty to Bargain ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Layoffs ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Unions ,
Weingarten Rights
Unions have long sought to avoid the NLRB’s election process, relying instead upon so-called “neutrality” agreements to obtain initial recognition by employers and legally enforceable rights to represent and bargain on behalf...more
Most employers wrestling with COVID-19 related employment law issues aren’t paying much attention to the labor law issues arising out of the pandemic. Indeed, because most U.S. employers are non-union, many operate under the...more
On October 12, 2019, Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1291 (“AB 1291”) into law, which requires companies to sign a so-called “labor peace” agreement with a union or risk losing their cannabis license; thereby,...more
10/24/2019
/ Business & Professions Code ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Preemption ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Supremacy Clause ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Union Organizers ,
Union Representatives ,
Unions
A flurry of critical cases have issued out of the NLRB over the past two weeks. The latest is the Board’s decision in MV Transportation, 368 NLRB No. 66 (2019), and the Board’s decision provides critical cover to employers...more
9/12/2019
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Contract Interpretation ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Good Faith ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unilateral Modification ,
Unions ,
Waivers ,
Working Conditions
It is lawful to discipline and even discharge an employee for making inappropriate or offensive remarks in the workplace. Indeed, current anti-harassment and anti-bullying laws may require an employer to take adverse action...more
9/12/2019
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Offensive Language ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Racist Remarks ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions
Setting clear and reasonable standards for taking access to an employer’s private property is high on the National Labor Relations Board’s agenda. Not only is the Board talking about issuing formal rules in this area, but the...more
9/11/2019
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Dismissals ,
Disparate Treatment ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Kroger ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Private Property ,
Property Owners ,
Reversal ,
Right of Access ,
Solicitation ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Union Organizers ,
Union Representatives ,
Unions
Does an employer who genuinely believes that its workers are independent contractors and tells them that they are contractors and not employees, only to later find out that it was wrong, violate Section 8(a)(1) of the...more
9/6/2019
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Administrative Review ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Former Employer ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Reversal ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Wrongful Termination
The National Labor Relations Act’s (NLRA or Act) Section 7 grants to all employees — regardless of whether they are unionized or not — the right to engage in protected concerted activity (PCA). Accordingly, an employer may...more
8/2/2019
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Section 7 ,
Strike ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions ,
Wal-Mart
Unionized workers wishing to rid themselves of continued union representation (and their employers) just got some very good news from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) with the issuance of Johnson Controls,...more
UberX and UberBLACK Drivers Are Not Employees for Purposes of the NLRA -
According to the NLRB General Counsel’s Division of Advice (GC), Uber’s UberX and UberBLACK drivers are independent contractors exempt from the...more
7/3/2019
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Local Ordinance ,
Misclassification ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
State Labor Laws ,
Uber ,
Wage and Hour
Does an employer automatically engage in unlawful discrimination when it grants an improved benefit to its non-union employees but withholds the improvement from its union employees who are covered by a collective bargaining...more
6/6/2019
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Contract Terms ,
Disparate Treatment ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Non-Union ,
Paid Leave ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
The circumstances under which an asset buyer has a duty to bargain with an incumbent union may be changing. In NLRB v. Burns Security Services, Inc., 406 U.S. 272 (1972), the Supreme Court held that an employer who purchases...more
4/10/2019
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Duty to Bargain ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Terms ,
Exceptions ,
Hiring & Firing ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Successors ,
Unions
In The Boeing Company, 365 NLRB No. 154 (2017), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) reassessed the standard it would apply when determining the facial validity of otherwise neutral work rules based upon a balancing...more
In yet another case that impacts both union and non-union employers, the Republican-majority National Labor Relations Board (Board) overruled Obama-era precedent and substantially narrowed what is considered “protected...more
On March 1, 2018, the Deputy Associate General Counsel for the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) asked the D.C. Circuit to revive its review of the Obama-era Browning-Ferris Industries, 362 NLRB No. 186 (2015) (“BFI”)...more
3/5/2018
/ Appeals ,
Browning-Ferris Industries of California Inc. ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Deregulation ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Enforcement ,
Ethics ,
Franchises ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Policies ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Oral Argument ,
Pending Legislation ,
Petition for Review ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Remand ,
Staffing Agencies ,
Terms and Conditions ,
Unions ,
Vacated ,
Wage and Hour