On November 13, 2024, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) held in Amazon.com Services LLC, 373 NLRB No. 136, that "captive-audience" meetings are unlawful under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Specifically, the...more
BACKGROUND -
In its recent Stericycle decision, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) modified its framework for evaluating whether employer work rules that do not expressly restrict employee Section 7 activity are...more
8/15/2023
/ Boeing ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Section 7 ,
Unions
Until recently, an employee generally could not establish a constructive discharge claim (that they had been forced to resign due to intolerable conditions) without first demonstrating that they informed their employer about...more
2/27/2023
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Constructive Discharge ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
MN Supreme Court ,
Notification Requirements ,
Workplace Harassment Guidance
Once again, the pendulum has swung, and this time, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) has reversed Trump-era rulings that granted broad flexibility to employers in severance agreements. On Tuesday, the Board...more
Uncertainty looms as NLRB General Counsel seeks to upend a combined 127 years of settled labor law to help unions organize workplaces Labor law has long been somewhat prone to uncertainty and inconsistency. -
Each new...more
5/6/2022
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Special Meetings ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Union Elections ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions
On March 9, 2021, the House of Representatives passed S. 420/H.R. 842, the pro-union “Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2021” (PRO Act), by a vote of 225-206, largely along party lines. On March 11, 2021, the bill was...more
In its recent General Motors LLC decision, the National Labor Relations Board fundamentally changed its framework for deciding whether employees engaging in offensive conduct or behavior are protected by Section 7 of the...more
Recently, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), overruling an important Obama-era decision, held that employers do not have a pre first-contract duty to bargain before disciplining employees in a manner consistent with...more
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) faces yet another road block to fully implementing its new election rules. The final rule, issued at the end of 2019, is set to restructure some of the more controversial...more
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) began April by issuing a new rule geared towards improving case procedures for union representation elections. Specifically, the rule implements three amendments, addressing (1)...more
To aid and address the effects of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S., on Friday, March 27, 2020, Congress passed and the president quickly signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act into law....more
4/5/2020
/ Business Interruption ,
CARES Act ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Economic Injury Disaster Loans ,
Federal Loans ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Relief Measures ,
SBA ,
SBA Lending Programs ,
Small Business
In addition to providing relief to individuals, employees, small and non-small businesses, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act also mobilizes government and government contractors to address the...more
On March 27, 2020, the president signed into law the much anticipated Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).
...more
The coronavirus (COVID-19) first emerged as a serious health situation at the end of 2019. At the time of this writing, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that more than 170 countries have confirmed cases of...more
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced it will defer implementation of its new election rules for 45 days (pushing the effective date back from April 16 to May 31, 2020)....more
On February 26, 2020, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued its long-awaited final rule narrowing the circumstances that will give rise to joint-employer liability. As expected, the NLRB returned to its...more
3/6/2020
/ Browning-Ferris Industries of California Inc. ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Final Rules ,
Franchises ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Wage and Hour
At the end of 2019, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued its long-anticipated final rule somewhat restructuring its controversial 2014 election rules overhaul (rules sometimes referred to as the "quickie" or...more
1/14/2020
/ Ambush Election Rules ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Final Rules ,
Labor Regulations ,
Labor Relations ,
New Rules ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Quickie Election Rules ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Union Elections ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a whirlwind series of rulings to cap off 2019. The NLRB typically issues many decisions near the end of a Board member's term, so this flurry comes as no surprise...more
1/10/2020
/ Banner Health System ,
Caesars ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Confidentiality Policies ,
Email ,
Email Policies ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Rights ,
Employment Policies ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Information Technology ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Purple Communications ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Union Dues ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions ,
Workplace Investigations
On September 14, 2018, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the joint-employer standard. Under the proposed rule, entities would be joint employers "if the two employers...more
9/19/2018
/ Browning-Ferris Industries of California Inc. ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Deregulation ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Franchises ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Policies ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Staffing Agencies ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
"Fundamental free speech rights are at stake," began the Supreme Court's 5-4 majority opinion in Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council 31, --- U.S. ----, No. 16-1466 (June 27, 2018). ...more
7/2/2018
/ Appeals ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Fair Share Contribution ,
First Amendment ,
Janus v AFSCME ,
Non-Union ,
Payroll Deductions ,
Public Sector Unions ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Stare Decisis ,
Union Dues
On Monday February 26, 2018, the NLRB unanimously vacated its recent Hy-Brand decision from December 14, 2017, effectively reinstating the Obama-era Browning-Ferris test for determining joint-employer status established in...more
3/2/2018
/ Browning-Ferris Industries of California Inc. ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Deregulation ,
Franchises ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Joint Employers ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Staffing Agencies ,
Unions ,
Vacated ,
Wage and Hour
The National Labor Relations Board isn't waiting for the ball to drop in Times Square. It's ushering in a new era, now. The new and short-lived Republican-appointed majority wasted little time reversing the course the Board...more
12/28/2017
/ Boeing ,
DuPont ,
Email Policies ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Joint Employers ,
Micro-Unions ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Policy Memorandums ,
Purple Communications ,
Raytheon ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently held in no uncertain terms that "a multi-month leave of absence is beyond the scope of a reasonable accommodation under the ADA." ...more
10/25/2017
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appeals ,
Best Practices ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Leave of Absence ,
Medical Leave ,
Reasonable Accommodation
Late last week, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) made a combination of moves that present significant challenges for employers. First, the Board issued its decision in Purple Communications, Inc., allowing employees...more
At the end of July, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued two decisions under its controversial Specialty Healthcare standard, approving of one “micro unit” and disavowing another in the retail context. The NLRB’s...more