Coming on the heels of the Labor Day holiday, in a long anticipated move, the National Labor Relations (“NLRB”) Board issued a draft of a new proposed joint employer standard, scheduled to be published on September 7, 2022. ...more
On August 9, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia held that the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) had adequate justification to rule that an aluminum manufacturer (“Constellium”) violated the...more
8/15/2022
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Offensive Language ,
Over-Time ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Protests
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
As promised (see prior post here), we are providing an update on the Third Circuit’s decision in Care One Management LLC et al. v. United Healthcare Workers East, et al. As we addressed at the time, this cased involved...more
On June 28, 2022, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) voted to uphold the so-called “successor bar doctrine” in Hospital Menonita de Guyama, Inc. This doctrine provides incumbent unions with an irrebuttable...more
On June 21, 2022, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) released its rulemaking agenda for Spring 2022, indicating the Board is considering revisions to two significant and tumultuous topics pursuant to the rulemaking...more
In a decision issued on June 2, the National Labor Relations Board modified the timing of its electronic notice-posting requirement in circumstances where an employer has not yet reopened its facility due to COVID-19, or...more
6/3/2022
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Electronic Communications ,
Employee Rights ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Notice Requirements ,
Posting Requirements ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Relief Measures ,
Unfair Labor Practices
In an Advice Memorandum released on May 25, 2022, NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo laid out a blueprint for changes she’d like made to Board precedent concerning union representatives’ access to employer property. At...more
5/31/2022
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Union Elections ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions
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
For decades, employers had been free to gather employees to discuss – in a non-coercive manner – the employer’s views on unionization, and had been free to share with employees what employees’ rights were with respect to the...more
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
On March 30, 2022, three judge panel of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously overruled prior precedent allowing “implied” contracts to survive the expiration of a written agreement. The instant panel held, instead,...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
On February 7, 2022, the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment issued a report recommending, among other things, increased coordination among agencies working on labor and employment matters....more
On February 4, 2022, President Biden signed an Executive Order on Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction Projects (the “Order”), which requires the federal government to require a project labor agreement...more
On February 1, 2022, the General Counsel (“GC”) of the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) announced a new initiative encouraging NLRB Regions to seek injunctive relief under Section 10 of the National Labor Relations Act...more
The Third Circuit issued a noteworthy split 2-1 decision last month, finding that a company’s claim under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”) against several Unions failed, where the...more
1/10/2022
/ Abuse of Process ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Extortion ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hobbs Act ,
Interference Claims ,
Labor Relations ,
RICO ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions
On January 6, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced that the two agencies signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) detailing procedures on information-sharing,...more
In what will have a significant impact on the employment status of “gig” economy workers under federal labor law, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) seems poised to revert to a more worker-friendly...more
12/31/2021
/ Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Misclassification ,
NLRA ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Wage and Hour
On Friday, December 10, 2021, the Board announced in its regulatory agenda that it plans to engage in rulemaking on the standard for determining whether two employers are “joint employers” under the NLRA. ...more
12/16/2021
/ Browning-Ferris Industries of California Inc. ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Franchises ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Staffing Agencies ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions
As we have discussed previously, Congressional Democrats have been attempting to amend the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) for the last few years. ...more
12/13/2021
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Labor Relations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions
The ability to form smaller bargaining units by breaking up larger aspects of an employer’s organization—sometimes called “micro-units”—is generally seen as an effort to enhance the ability of unions to gain entry into an...more
Google recently suffered a blow in its ongoing National Labor Relations Board litigation, when an Administrative Law Judge appointed to rule on a discovery dispute ordered the Silicon Valley company to turn over the lion’s...more
12/6/2021
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Discovery ,
Discovery Disputes ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Evidence ,
Google ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Retaliation ,
Subpoenas ,
Unions ,
Work-Product Doctrine
On November 10, 2021, the National Labor Relations Board announced that it is seeking public input to address whether the Board should award consequential damages to make employees whole for economic losses and under what...more
11/17/2021
/ Damages ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Reform ,
Layoffs ,
NLRB ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Statutory Violations ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Wage and Hour
On November 10, 2021, General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a memorandum outlining bargaining obligations under OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard to Protect Workers from Coronavirus (“ETS”). Responding to Inquiries...more
11/11/2021
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Covered Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Infectious Diseases ,
New Rules ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
OSHA ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety