In a recent case involving the application of the Board’s standard for the employee status of graduate students, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) denied a request for review of a Regional Director’s...more
Earlier this week, the National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued Memorandum GC 24-06 seeking to clarify the obligations imposed by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) on academic institutions...more
8/8/2024
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Department of Education ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Educational Institutions ,
FERPA ,
New Guidance ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Privacy Laws ,
Unions ,
Written Consent
A growing trend of union organizing among undergraduate student workers reached a crescendo last week when a unit of 20,000 student assistants at California State University voted in favor of unionization.
California...more
Shortly after the New Year, on January 4, 2024, Space Exploration Technologies Corp.—or “SpaceX”—filed a complaint in the District Court for the Southern District of Texas alleging that an administrative complaint filed by...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
As we previously reported, National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo is committed to expanding the remedies utilized by the Board to make employees harmed by an employer’s unfair...more
With Congress failing to make the organizing process easier for unions, the NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo is now asking the Board to require employers to recognize unions without a secret ballot election.
As...more
4/14/2022
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Rights ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Secret Ballot ,
Union Elections ,
Unions
As previously discussed, the New York City Council passed a law at the end of last year requiring certain hotels in the City to pay eligible employees weekly severance payments for up to 30 weeks.
There were swift legal...more
4/6/2022
/ Contracts Clause ,
Due Process ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Protection ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Hotels ,
Layoffs ,
Likelihood of Success ,
NLRA ,
Preemption ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Severance Pay ,
State Labor Laws
Yesterday, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), along with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), announced the creation of an interagency initiative to raise...more
As we discussed here, members of the House Education and Labor Committee have been attempting to end-run the procedural hurdles that have prevented the Protect the Right to Organize Act (“PRO Act”) legislation from becoming...more
10/29/2021
/ Budget Reconciliation ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Labor Relations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
NLRA ,
Penalties ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions
Yesterday, General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a very significant memorandum on the status of college athletes as “employees” under the National Labor Relations Act. Statutory Rights of Players at Academic Institutions...more
9/30/2021
/ College Athletes ,
Colleges ,
Compensation ,
Employee Definition ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Misclassification ,
NCAA ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Sports ,
Student Athletes
In keeping with the momentum of her Office, National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a memorandum yesterday to all Regional Offices advising them to request that the Board exercise its broad...more
The NLRB’s “contract coverage” standard for determining whether a collective bargaining agreement privileges an employer to unilaterally change terms and conditions of employment received support last week from a federal...more
8/18/2021
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
General Contractors ,
Labor Regulations ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRB ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour ,
Work Schedules
A split Board concluded this week that a union did not engage in unlawful secondary activity under the NLRA when it stationed a 12-foot-tall inflatable rat—known all too well by employers as “Scabby the Rat”—and two 8-foot...more
After being nominated by President Biden on February 17, 2021, Jennifer Abruzzo was sworn in as General Counsel of the NLRB yesterday by Chairman Lauren McFerran. Abruzzo will serve a four-year term as General Counsel,...more
As we reported here and here, there are several challenges to the authority of the Acting General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, Peter Sung Ohr, given President Biden’s unprecedented move of terminating the...more
7/16/2021
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Appointments Clause ,
Biden Administration ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Unfair Labor Practices
As we enter the second year of the pandemic, it has become increasingly apparent the various vaccinations approved for safeguarding against COVID-19 are a key element to returning to normal business operations. Employers...more
The Coronavirus pandemic has spawned a lot of questions—and a lot of headaches—for employers, who within the past year have needed to adapt to rapidly changing health, regulatory, and technological landscapes. With the...more
Last week, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overturned a decision by the NLRB dismissing a complaint against two joint employers alleging unlawful termination in retaliation for picketing activity. The...more
In a recent decision by the NLRB, the Board upheld the lawfulness, in part, of an arbitration agreement that required employees to maintain the confidentiality of the arbitration proceedings, including the discovery process...more
After publishing the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking over a year ago, followed by tens of thousands of public comments and many months of anticipating the final rule, the NLRB announced today that it will publish a Notice of...more
Recently, adjunct professors at Elon University and Ithaca College won victories before the NLRB and an American Arbitration Association arbitrator, respectively, that further bolster the position that adjunct, or contingent,...more
2/26/2021
/ Adjunct Faculty ,
Bargaining Units ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Colleges ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Professors ,
Unions ,
Universities
From pay equity to an increased minimum wage, pro-worker and pro-union labor policies, and additional anti-discrimination protections, President-elect Biden has touted support for numerous legislative and regulatory proposals...more
1/11/2021
/ ADEA ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Biden Administration ,
But For Causation ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Minimum Wage ,
NLRB ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Title VII ,
Wage and Hour
When an employee is disciplined and then claims the employer acted on account of union animus in violation of Section 8(a)(3) of the Act, evidence to support such a claim either can be proffered through direct evidence, such...more
12/16/2020
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Adverse Employment Action ,
Charging Party ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Failure to Investigate ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Unions ,
Wright Line Test
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