As we hurtle toward Labor Day, and the probable onslaught of decisions, and as NLRB Member Pearce’s tenure ends on August 27, the Board has been issuing a steady stream of cases. Many of these appear to be garden variety type...more
8/28/2018
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Coercion ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Constructive Discharge ,
Employee Transfers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
NLRB ,
Performance Reviews ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Section 7 ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions
Since December 2017, when the Board issued a number of decisions which restored precedent that had been changed in the last few years, not much of note has been happening at the Board. Indeed, there was not a full complement...more
As we have noted previously, the make-up of the Board currently stands at four out of five total members, divided evenly between two warring factions making it pretty much impossible to change the law which requires a...more
Things are moving fast and furiously at the NLRB. Last week we saw the new General Counsel issue a sweeping memo which rescinded many policy guidelines and initiatives of his predecessor and highlighted the Board precedent...more
The new NLRB General Counsel Peter Robb has been fast at work. A short two weeks after being sworn in on November 17, 2017, the new General Counsel issued a memorandum making clear his intention to re-examine much of the...more
12/8/2017
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Independent Contractors ,
Memorandum of Guidance ,
Misclassification ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Purple Communications ,
Rescission ,
Section 7 ,
Unions
It is mid-November, and the Board is at a full complement, and even has a new General Counsel. While we haven’t seen anything significant (or really, anything at all) come out of the newly constituted Board we know the new...more
11/13/2017
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Administrative Remedies ,
Arbitration ,
Charging Party ,
Coercion ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Employee Benefits ,
Grievance Process ,
Lockouts ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Section 7 ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Strike ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
The NLRB suffered a setback this week when its interpretation of Weingarten rights was rebuffed by the D.C. Court of Appeals. This is the same court that recently declared the agency was acting more as an “advocate than...more
8/24/2017
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hospitals ,
NLRB ,
Nurse Practitioners ,
Peer Review ,
Union Representatives ,
Unions ,
Weingarten Rights
When an employer and a union sit down to bargain they often agree to ground rules for how negotiations are to be conducted. A common ground rule, for example, is for the parties to agree to address “non-economic” items before...more
A significant change in NLRB precedent during the last few years was the added requirement that an employer bargain over discretionary aspects of discipline in the period between the union acquiring representational rights...more
6/26/2017
/ Back Pay ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Discipline ,
Hiring & Firing ,
IRS ,
NLRB ,
Reinstatement ,
Security Guards ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unilateral Modification ,
Unions ,
Wrongful Termination
The NLRB recently issued a rare decision completely dismissing all allegations against an employer; rarer still because it was unanimous. In Brooke Glen Behavioral Hospital, 365 NLRB No. 79 (May 15, 2017) the NLRB was...more
5/23/2017
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Health Care Providers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
NLRB ,
Nurses ,
Protected Activity ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Teamsters ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions
What would the holiday season be without a Christmas gift case? A perennial problem for labor relations personnel is whether the yearly Christmas turkey given to employees is something that an employer must bargain over...more
12/30/2016
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Duty to Bargain ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Holiday Gifts ,
Holidays ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Unions
The term “right to work state” is fairly well known. After all, 25 of the United States are “right to work states,” states which have enacted laws prohibiting compulsory unionism as part of a collective bargaining agreement....more
The onset of Labor Day and the end of the NLRB fiscal year (September 30) one can count on seeing a number of decisions issued. This year is no different, and perhaps more are being issued during these last few days because...more
9/2/2016
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Canning v NLRB ,
Chipotle Grill ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Electronic Communications ,
Employees ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Social Media ,
Twitter ,
Unions
There has been a lot of hype about the so-called NLRB ambush election rules. These are, of course, the NLRB’s take on fixing what it deemed a broken secret ballot election scheme, one allegedly marred by employers gaming the...more
The first day of employment is often chaotic. New employees must learn their way around the jobsite, meet (and remember the names of) many new people and otherwise familiarize themselves with working at a new job. Oh, and...more
Collective bargaining agreements, do not, and cannot cover every issue that will arise during their term. Matters concerning terms and conditions of employment that are not addressed in the labor contract have to be...more
7/11/2016
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Delays ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Request For Information ,
Terms and Conditions ,
Unions ,
Waivers
The NLRB has ruled that an employer is liable to lost wages for a union representative who allegedly suffered injuries "after being pushed down a flight of stairs at a work site. The case is Norquay Construction, Inc., 359...more
Last week the NLRB issued several significant decisions. In the press release announcing the decisions, the agency noted that most were actually issued “the week of December 10, but were issued this week following editing and...more
Claiming that the Board “has never provided a coherent explanation” for the 50 year old rule that the obligation to continue deducting dues pursuant to a dues checkoff provision ceases upon expiration of the collective...more
Sometimes in negotiations the parties just cannot agree on certain items. Such a deadlock under certain circumstances can have legal consequences under the concept of “impasse,” one of the more shadowy, hard to define issues...more