Late summer brings picnics, hiking, and general fun. It also brings a slew of NLRB decisions as the agency’s fiscal year comes to an end on September 30. One of the more highly-anticipated decisions concerns the lawfulness of...more
Following the National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB”) highly-controversial decision in McLaren Macomb declaring most confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses in separation agreements to be unlawful, General Counsel...more
On Monday, the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) issued a decision making it riskier and more complicated for employers to discipline employees for abusive workplace conduct alleged to have arisen within the context of...more
As foreshadowed by the NLRB General Counsel’s August 2021 Advice Memorandum, the vacillating standard for the legality of employer handbooks and policies and confidentiality requirements during open employer-investigations...more
3/11/2022
/ Boeing ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Labor Reform ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Section 7
In AT&T Mobility LLC , 370 NLRB No. 121 (2021), the NLRB majority (Members Ring and Emanuel) held that the Employer could lawfully maintain a workplace policy prohibiting its workers from recording conversations with their...more
Over the past few years, the National Labor Relations Board has frequently weighed in on employer’s workplace and employee handbook policies, examining whether an employer’s policy impacts employees’ rights under Section 7 of...more
As we have discussed before, several years ago, the Board instituted a significant paradigm shift in analyzing the lawfulness of employers’ handbook policies in relation to employees’ Section 7 rights, when it issued its...more
In adopting the ALJ’s Recommended Order in S&S Enterprises, LLC d/b/a Appalachian Heating, Case No. 09-CA-235304, the NLRB found that a leaflet distributed by the employer during union organizing efforts, which stated that it...more
12/28/2020
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Employment Policies ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Section 7 ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Union Leaflets ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions
The NLRB’s Division of Advice recently released a long-awaited Advice Memorandum (originally issued in February 2019, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Case 28-CA-229134 (Feb. 22, 2019)) concerning the validity of two workplace rules...more
12/2/2020
/ Boeing ,
Civility ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Government Investigations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Protected Activity ,
Reasonableness Factors ,
Section 7
On September 11, 2020, a three-member National Labor Relations Board panel unanimously ruled that a trade group representing sign language interpreters did not violate Section 8(a)(1) of the Act by removing its members’ posts...more
The pandemic has thrown a number of obstacles at employers and employees as everyone attempts to navigate a novel situation. On August 13, 2020, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) Division of Advice (“Advice”), the...more
8/18/2020
/ CARES Act ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Duty to Bargain ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Layoffs ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Popular ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Section 7 ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions ,
Workplace Safety
In another long-anticipated decision, on July 21, 2020, in General Motors LLC, 369 NLRB No. 127 (2020), the Board replaced three context-specific rules for determining whether certain abusive conduct committed by employees is...more
7/23/2020
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Preponderance of the Evidence ,
Profanity ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Retroactive Application ,
Section 7 ,
Title VII ,
Totality of Circumstances Test
On July 15, 2020, the National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB”) Division of Advice published 16 Advice Memoranda addressing myriad questions posed by various Regional Offices.
While a majority of the Memoranda were drafted...more
7/22/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Infectious Diseases ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Policy Memorandums ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Section 7 ,
Unfair Labor Practices
In many private arbitration agreements entered into in the non-union context, employers and employees agree that the proceedings shall remain confidential. On June 19, 2020, the Board addressed whether a confidentiality...more
6/23/2020
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Boeing ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Policies ,
Epic Systems Corp v Lewis ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Section 7 ,
Workplace Investigations
On June 5, 2020, the NLRB held, in Teamsters Local Union No. 735-S (Bemis Co., Inc.), 369 NLRB No. 97, that union officials’ retaliatory actions against members who participated in an investigation resulting in the discharge...more
6/10/2020
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Bargaining Units ,
Burden-Shifting ,
Bylaws ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Employment Litigation ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Protected Activity ,
Section 7 ,
Unions
As we previously suggested, the NLRB’s adoption of the Boeing standard for determining the lawfulness of employer’s workplace rules, policies and handbook provisions has provided significant fodder for interesting cases....more
6/1/2020
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Boeing ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Infectious Diseases ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Section 7
In maintaining business as usual as best it can amidst the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, the Board recently decided an issue concerning limitations on employer campaign tactics, and an employer’s limits in restricting discussions...more
When it comes to an unfair practice allegation asserting an employer’s statement is unlawful, words matter. And, so does context. Under NLRB case law, the actual employer statements are evaluated as well as the overall...more
3/6/2020
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Rights ,
Employee Training ,
Interrogations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Section 7 ,
Temporary Employees ,
Unfair Labor Practices
Applying the facially neutral work rule test laid out in Boeing, the Board recently reversed an Administrative Law Judge decision, concluding that the employer maintained lawful workplace rules restricting employee use of (i)...more
2/24/2020
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Boeing ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
NLRB ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Purple Communications ,
Section 7 ,
Workplace Safety
On Thursday, February 6, 2020 the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, also known as the “PRO Act”. The legislation passed mostly along party lines, would provide sweeping changes to...more
2/10/2020
/ Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Regulations ,
Labor Relations ,
New Legislation ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Right to Work ,
Section 7 ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions
Shamrock Foods Company, 369 N.L.R.B. No. 5 (January 7, 2020) is the latest in the National Labor Relations Board’s series of employer-friendly decisions. In Shamrock Foods, the Board held that an employer did not violate...more
1/13/2020
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Employee Rights ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Reinstatement ,
Section 7 ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Termination ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions
As anticipated, in one of the last decisions before the end of Member McFerran’s term, the NLRB issued another important opinion. Reverting back to precedent that preceded a 2015 decision, the Board, in Apogee Retail LLC...more
12/19/2019
/ #MeToo ,
Boeing ,
Confidential Information ,
Confidentiality Policies ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employee Misconduct ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gag Rule ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Section 7 ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Workplace Investigations
The NLRB continues to issue decisions on a variety of interesting issues. On October 10, the Board held, in LA Specialty Produce Co., 368 NLRB No. 93 (Oct. 10, 2019), that an employer’s strong confidentiality protections and...more
While much of the country spent the last week of summer enjoying the last few days of sun, the National Labor Relations Board spent the week before its eponymous three-day weekend churning out a couple of important decisions....more
On August 14, 2019, the NLRB issued its first decision addressing employer conduct related to mandatory arbitration agreements and Section 7 activity since the Supreme Court decided Epic Systems Corp v. Lewis, 584 U.S. __,...more
8/16/2019
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Collective Actions ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employment Contract ,
Epic Systems Corp v Lewis ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 7 ,
Wage and Hour