Responding in part to the nature of the post-COVID-19 remote workplace, NLRB GC Jennifer Abruzzo has released a memo on employers’ use of electronic monitoring and automated management in the workplace....more
1. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel’s office issued a memorandum reiterating the rights of immigrant workers under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Continuing its aggressive approach to...more
6/16/2022
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Decertification ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Twitter ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
1. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel (GC) filed a brief seeking to expand unions’ right to obtain recognition from employers based on signed authorization cards alone, without the need for a Board...more
5/10/2022
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
GAO ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Opt-Outs ,
Secret Ballot ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Union Elections ,
Unions
1. Major League Baseball and the players’ union reached agreement on a collective bargaining agreement, ending the lockout. After a nearly 100-day lockout, MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association reached a deal...more
4/12/2022
/ Arbitration ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Davis-Bacon Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
NPRM ,
Reimbursements ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Union Dues ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
1. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel directed NLRB regions to seek preemptive injunctions for alleged unlawful threats during union campaigns. NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a memorandum...more
3/11/2022
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Epic Systems Corp v Lewis ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Independent Contractors ,
Mandatory Arbitration ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions
1. The National Labor Relations Board General Counsel’s office is advocating for overturning Trump-era Board cases defining the scope of National Labor Relations Act-protected activity. In a brief filed on January 14, The...more
2/7/2022
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Bureau of Labor Statistics ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Foreign Workers ,
Memorandum of Understanding ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Unions
1. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced on Dec. 10 that it will again revisit its joint employer standard. The agency’s 2022 regulatory agenda includes plans to engage in the formal rulemaking process on the...more
1. On Nov. 19, 2021, the House passed a version of the Build Back Better Act that would vastly expand employer liability under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The bill adds aggressive “civil penalties,” on top of the...more
12/15/2021
/ Back Pay ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Foreign Workers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
NCAA ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Reinstatement ,
Student Athletes ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
1. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), its Regions 2 (New York), 22 (Newark), and 29 (Brooklyn) and the Consulate General of México in New York have signed an agreement formalizing the relationship between the NLRB and...more
Despite the low union membership rate in the private sector nationally and consistent unionization rates in the manufacturing industry in recent years, the external labor-organizing environment remains aggressive....more
1. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel (GC) Jennifer Abruzzo mandated the seeking of more aggressive remedies in unfair labor practice (ULP) cases. Office of General Counsel Memorandum GC 21-06, Seeking Full...more
10/12/2021
/ Budget Reconciliation ,
College Athletes ,
Compensation ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Health Insurance ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Premiums ,
Private Property ,
Remedies ,
Right of Access ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions ,
Universities ,
Wage and Hour
1. Democrats now hold a majority of seats on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The new Democratic majority on the NLRB became official on Saturday, August 28, when President Joe Biden’s nominee David Prouty was sworn...more
1. The Senate confirmed Jennifer Abruzzo to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel post and Gwynne Wilcox and David Prouty as NLRB members. Approved on July 21 by a narrow 51-50 vote, with Vice President...more
8/23/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Email Policies ,
First Amendment ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions ,
USPS ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
1. The U.S. Supreme Court held California’s union access regulation constitutes an unconstitutional taking of an employer’s property. Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid, 141 S.Ct. 891 (June 23, 2021). The California Agricultural...more
7/19/2021
/ Agricultural Workers ,
Cedar Point Nursery v Hassid ,
Corporate Counsel ,
GAO ,
Joe Biden ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
SCOTUS ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions
President Joe Biden has nominated union-side attorney Gwynne Wilcox to fill a vacant seat on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Wilcox is a partner at the union-side labor and employment firm Levy Ratner P.C. Among...more
6/16/2021
/ Arbitration ,
Boeing ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Credit Unions ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Rights ,
Joe Biden ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Nominations ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) declined to modify its “contract bar” rule. Under NLRB procedure, once a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is executed, the Board will not process a request for a representation...more
1. On March 31, 2021, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Acting General Counsel Peter Sung Ohr issued a memorandum stating his office will return to “vigorous enforcement” of employee rights under Section 7 rights of the...more
1. On February 4, House and Senate Democrats introduced the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. The sponsors described the bill as comprehensive labor legislation aimed at bolstering workers’ collective bargaining...more
3/11/2021
/ Appellate Courts ,
Biden Administration ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Labor Disputes ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Right to Strike ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
1. President Joe Biden summarily removed National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel (GC) Peter Robb from office on January 20, 2021, and removed Robb’s deputy, Alice Stock the following day. On January 25, 2021,...more
3/1/2021
/ Bureau of Labor Statistics ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Financial Reporting ,
Joe Biden ,
Minimum Wage ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Nominations ,
Secretary of Labor ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
1. Directing a union election among dockworkers and clerks at a California distribution center, a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) official rejected the employer’s argument that an appropriate unit must also include...more
1. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) provided guidance on the propriety of mail or manual ballot elections. Aspirus Keweenaw, 370 NLRB No. 45 (Nov. 9, 2020). In this case, the NLRB set forth the considerations...more
1. Thus far in 2020, unions prevailed in mail ballot elections at the same rate as in-person elections. According to an October 16 Bloomberg report, although voter participation was low, unions won seven out of 10 National...more
11/18/2020
/ 401k ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Mail-In Ballots ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Office of Administrative Law Judges (OALJ) ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
1.National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel Peter Robb has issued guidance addressing employer assistance in union organizing and decertification elections. In Memorandum GC 20-13 (Sept. 4, 2020), “Guidance...more
10/19/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Furloughs ,
Hazard Pay ,
Interpreters ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Protests ,
Unions ,
Unpaid Leave ,
Wage and Hour
1. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) upheld an administrative law judge’s (ALJ) ruling directing an unfair labor practice trial to be conducted by videoconference because of the COVID-19 pandemic. William Beaumont...more
9/21/2020
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Boeing ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Furloughs ,
Layoffs ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Social Media ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
1. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) modified its standard for determining whether an employer may lawfully discipline an employee for abusive or offensive statements and conduct in the context of activity otherwise...more
8/13/2020
/ Browning-Ferris Industries of California Inc. ,
Confidential Information ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employee Training ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
General Motors ,
Joint Employers ,
NLRB ,
Off-Duty Employees ,
Offensive Language ,
Terms and Conditions ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Bullying