In the weeks surrounding Labor Day 2023, the National Labor Relations Board overturned precedent with decisions and rules significantly impacting both union and non-union employers. The result is labor laws encouraging both...more
9/22/2023
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Contract Negotiations ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Discipline ,
Duty to Bargain ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Repeat Violations ,
Severance Agreements ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Union Elections ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions
The National Labor Relations Board returned to its prior standard for analyzing the legality of disciplining employee misconduct related to protected concerted activity. Lion Elastomers LLC II, 372 NLRB No. 83 (May 1, 2023)....more
5/11/2023
/ Abusive Acts ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Misconduct ,
Federal Contractors ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Subcontractors ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions
1. The National Labor Relations Board reinstated its previous standard for restricting employee severance agreements. McLaren Macomb, 372 NLRB No. 58 (2023). The Board’s ruling applies to all severance agreements for...more
1. The National Labor Relations Board expanded its authority to include awarding consequential damages in unfair labor practice cases. Thryv, Inc., 372 NLRB No. 22 (Dec. 13, 2022). Monetary remedies for violations of the...more
1/9/2023
/ Bargaining Units ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Federal Budget ,
Information Technology ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has proposed rescinding portions of its 2020 union representation procedures on blocking charges, voluntary recognition bar, and construction industry collective bargaining...more
1. Compensation in non-union jobs is outpacing compensation in union-represented jobs. A Bureau of Labor and Statistics report indicates the total wage and benefit costs for private-sector nonunionized employers was 3% higher...more
9/12/2022
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Compensation ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Legal Fees ,
NLRB ,
Reimbursements ,
Teamsters ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour ,
Willful Misconduct
1. The National Labor Relations Board clarified its rerun election procedures in cases of uncontested election misconduct. Dynamic Concepts, 371 NLRB No. 117 (July 22, 2022). After losing an election to represent the...more
8/11/2022
/ AFL-CIO ,
Antitrust Division ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Memorandum of Understanding ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Union Elections ,
Unions ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ,
Wage and Hour
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. 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
As we discussed in our recent report on National Labor Relations Board General Counsel (“GC”) Jennifer Abruzzo’s August 12th agenda for the direction of NLRB case law, employers should be ready for an aggressive expansion of...more
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) must reconsider its newest ruling on the rights of certain employees to access private property to engage in activity on behalf of a union, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District...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
“Absent threats or promises, § 8(c) [of the National Labor Relations Act] unambiguously protects ‘any views, argument tor opinion’ – even those that the agency finds misguided, flimsy, or daft,” the D.C. Circuit has held....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
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) upheld an administrative law judge’s (ALJ) ruling directing that an unfair labor practice trial be conducted by videoconference because of the COVID-19 pandemic. William Beaumont...more
1.The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has restored a unionized employer’s right to unilaterally discipline or discharge an employee prior to executing a first collective bargaining agreement. 800 River Road Operating...more
1.The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) implemented several parts of its new election rule that were not enjoined by a federal district court judge. The new rule aims to reform the controversial Obama-era “quickie...more