On February 7, 2020 the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) sued the State of Oregon in federal court seeking a declaratory judgement to invalidate a state statute that protects employees who refuse to attend lawful...more
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
Similar to other disagreements between the NLRB and D.C. Circuit, a tension developed during the last several years regarding the appropriate standard to determine whether teachers at religious schools are covered by the NLRA...more
2/3/2020
/ Appeals ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
First Amendment ,
Jurisdiction ,
Lack of Jurisdiction ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Pacific Lutheran University ,
Religious Institutions ,
Religious Schools ,
Teachers ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Union Membership ,
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
In yet another end-of-2019 decision overruling significant NLRA precedent, the Board reverted to the less stringent Spielberg / Olin standard for determining whether to defer to arbitration decisions in the context of Section...more
1/3/2020
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Babcock & Wilcox Construction ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Contract Terms ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Employment Contract ,
Filing Grievances ,
Grievance Process ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions ,
UPS ,
Wrongful Termination
The Board continues churning out precedent-setting decisions as year-end approaches. Two days before the Christmas holiday, in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 368 NLRB No. 146 (Dec. 16, 2019), the NLRB applied its new view on handbook...more
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
Mid-December is always a time where one can expect significant decisions to issue from the NLRB. In recent years, we saw the Board, among other decisions, abandon the much criticized “micro unit” standard and the equally...more
12/17/2019
/ Bethlehem Steel ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Contract Negotiations ,
Dues Checkoff ,
Labor Relations ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Statutory Requirements ,
Union Dues ,
Union Security Clauses ,
Unions
The National Labor Relations Board recently held that a group of employees who were advocating on behalf of unpaid interns were not engaged in protected activity because the interns were not “employees” as that term is...more
On October 28, 2019, the Ninth Circuit, following in the footsteps of the D.C. Circuit and the Second Circuit, affirmed an order entered by the NLRB confirming that prohibitions on secondary boycotts under Section...more
10/31/2019
/ Boycotts ,
Employee Rights ,
Employment Policies ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Labor Disputes ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Secondary Boycott ,
Strike ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Union Representatives ,
Unions
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
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
The NLRB continues to churn out decisions post-Labor Day. On September 4, in a 2-1 decision, (Chairman Ring and Member Kaplan, with Member McFerran dissenting), the NLRB found that E.I. DuPont De Nemours did not violate the...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
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
Continuing its efforts to overturn precedent, the NLRB General Counsel’s Division of Advice has issued a new advice memorandum looking to strike at the most recognizable sign of unionism in urban areas today – – the...more
In an Advice Memorandum dated April 16, 2019, but released on May 14, 2019, the NLRB’s General Counsel staked out a position in one of the most contentious and influential questions in labor and employment law today: Whether...more
5/16/2019
/ CA Supreme Court ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Drivers ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Entrepreneurs ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws
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
On January 25, 2019, in a long-anticipated decision, the NLRB overturned another Obama-Board decision, FedEx Home Delivery, 361 NLRB 610 (2014), which modified the test for whether an individual is an “employee” or an...more
Following up on the NLRB’s decision in The Boeing Company, 365 NLRB No. 154 (Dec. 14, 2017), on June 6, NLRB General Counsel Peter Robb issued a new Guidance Memorandum (18-04) detailing how NLRB Regional Offices receiving...more
As we previously reported the NLRB’s “joint employer” standard has vacillated over the last several years, and currently remains in flux. For historical reference, the NLRB expanded the scope of joint-employment in 2015 in...more
In an unexpected and critical turn of events, after extensive political pressure, the NLRB, sitting as a three-member panel comprised of Chairman Kaplan and Members Pearce and McFerran, vacated last year’s decision in...more