The NLRB recently reiterated its position that the agency should not be so quick to dismiss petitions filed by employees seeking to decertify a union. The Board, in a 3-1 decision, held that if a petition for decertification...more
As we near the end of the agency’s fiscal year on September 30, the NLRB is churning out many significant decisions. On September 10, the Board issued a sweeping decision concerning an issue that has divided the NLRB and D.C....more
Summer is winding down but the NLRB continues to be a source of vigorous activity. The Board recently issued a sweeping decision regarding the lawfulness of arbitration agreements. Also, the Board announced its intention to...more
The National Labor Relations Board published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) on Monday, August 12, 2019, proposing three amendments to its current rules and regulations aimed at addressing representation election...more
This summer has been punctuated by walkouts. We have seen walkouts in support of a $15 minimum wage and walkouts to protest the sale of goods to the government. Walking off the job is, of course, a staple of labor action, and...more
7/31/2019
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Rights ,
Employment Policies ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Protected Activity ,
Strike ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wal-Mart
On the eve of Independence Day, the NLRB, in a 3-1 decision (Member McFerran dissented), clarified the law concerning withdrawal and enunciated a new framework for determining whether a union has retained majority support at...more
7/8/2019
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Contract Terms ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Union Elections ,
Union Representatives ,
Unions ,
Withdrawal
Citing judicial criticism, as well as the original Supreme Court decisions on the issue, the NLRB swept away years of precedent permitting union representatives to access public areas of an employer’s premises.
In UPMC...more
6/18/2019
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Bright-Line Rule ,
Disparate Treatment ,
Employee Rights ,
New Rules ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Private Property ,
Property Owners ,
Public Access Laws ,
Public Property ,
Solicitation ,
Surveillance ,
Union Organizers ,
Union Representatives ,
Unions
Employers with union-represented employees also always have non-union employees, whether working in the office or at another worksite. Invariably, there are differences between the wages, benefits, and terms and conditions of...more
6/4/2019
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Holiday Pay ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Union Representatives ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
The NLRB currently is churning out cases and Advice Memoranda at a fairly regular pace. We recently discussed NLRB decisions addressing information requests, handbook statements, and confidential informants....more
Information requests in the realm of labor relations are simple in theory but can be complicated in practice. We have seen how the topics of information sought by a union can cause skirmishes, sometimes deliberately so. We...more
4/5/2019
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Business Conduct Standards ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Confidential Information ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Policies ,
Information Requests ,
NLRB ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
During the last decade, a number of NLRB decisions faulted employers for written policies that were considered to be overbroad in violation of the National Labor Relations Act. These rulings sprang largely from the NLRB’s...more
2/27/2019
/ Appeals ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employee Rights ,
Employment Policies ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Section 7 ,
Union Representatives ,
Unions
An employer’s duty to provide information to the union representing its employees is a frequent of topic of interest to labor relations practitioners because it is very easy to violate the law. For example, an employer’s...more
How the NLRB treats employer statements made to employees in the context of union organizing or other protected activity has been a frequent topic of discussion. While the actual case law analyzing the coerciveness of an...more
2/14/2019
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Coercion ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Interrogations ,
NLRB ,
Termination ,
Totality of Circumstances Test ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions ,
Witness Statements
On February 4, the NLRB granted United Federation of Teachers, Local 2, AFT, AFL-CIO’s (the “Union”) request for review of the Regional Director’s Decision and Direction of Election concerning a decertification petition filed...more
We recently saw interesting decisions from the NLRB including cases about the employer’s duty to provide information about tax cuts, the lawfulness of litigation holds, and the validity of decertification petitions.
At the...more
1/14/2019
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Coercion ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Decertification ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Protests ,
Right to Picket ,
Secondary Boycott ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
Last year about this time, the NLRB changed the standard for reviewing handbook rules. The new standard takes into consideration the fact there are many other interests other than the NLRA at play in a workplace, and seems to...more
12/24/2018
/ Data Retention ,
Duty to Preserve ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Litigation Hold ,
NLRB ,
Policy Memorandums ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Section 7 ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
In prior posts, we have discussed how information requests made in the context of a bargaining relationship can be vexing. The standard of the employer’s obligation to provide information can be a moving target, depending on...more
As we have noted at times, the human element in labor relations makes for interesting situations. One of the more interesting issues is the timeliness of representation petitions, which, despite the existence of clear rules,...more
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
The Department of Labor fully rescinded the 2016 changes made to the Persuader Rules. The DOL concluded that the 2016 rule changes “exceeded the authority of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA)” because...more
One area of labor relations that continues to vex practitioners is the scope of the so-called Weingarten rights. NLRB v. J. Weingarten Inc., 420 U.S. 251 (1975). Some 43 years after the Supreme Court set forth the right that...more
The Board is now operating at a full complement and is issuing decisions on a fairly regular basis. Nothing earth shattering in terms of law (which is kind of a relief) but there are some interesting issues worth discussing....more
5/10/2018
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Burden-Shifting ,
Contract Negotiations ,
Employee Misconduct ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Internal Investigations ,
NLRB ,
Property Damage ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Right to Picket ,
Strike ,
Unions
By a vote of 50 to 48 the U.S. Senate confirmed Republican John Ring as a Member of the National Labor Relations Board, giving the agency a full five member complement. Member Ring, whose term expires December 16, 2022, takes...more
As we have seen, there are few things that can be counted on in labor relations. Oftentimes, several experts look at the same problem and come to vastly different conclusions. What is (almost) guaranteed, however, is that the...more
3/15/2018
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Charging Party ,
Credibility ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Internal Investigations ,
NLRB ,
Reversal ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sexual Stereotyping ,
Testimonial Statements ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions ,
Witness Statements ,
Witnesses
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