Robert Nagle at Fox Rothschild LLP

New NLRB Counsel Overturns Biden-Era Policies, Signaling Pro-Employer Shift

With one stroke of his pen, the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) new Acting General Counsel, William Cowen, has effectively dismantled more than two dozen key Biden-era initiatives that favored employees and unions. ...more

2/20/2025 / Biden Administration , Employee Rights , Employees , Employment Policies , Federal Labor Laws , Labor Reform , Labor Regulations , Labor Relations , NLRA , NLRB , NLRB General Counsel , Non-Compete Agreements , Unions

NLRB Issues Labor-Friendly Decisions on ‘Captive Audience’ Meetings, Employer Statements on Unionization

Reversing established precedent that has stood for decades, two recent decisions by the National Labor Relations Board make it increasingly difficult for employers to make the argument to workers that unionization is not in...more

11/15/2024 / Employee Rights , Employer Liability Issues , Labor Regulations , Labor Relations , NLRA , NLRB , Section 7 , Union Organizers , Unions

NLRB General Counsel Calls for Monetary Relief for Unlawful Noncompetes

National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo has issued a memorandum (GC 25-01) that calls for monetary remedies in cases where noncompete covenants or “stay-or-pay” provisions are deemed to violate...more

10/11/2024 / Employee Rights , Employment Contract , NLRA , NLRB , NLRB General Counsel , Non-Compete Agreements , Remedial Actions

Even if the White House Flips, Change May Come Slowly to the NLRB

Most employers are aware that the President appoints the five members of the National Labor Relations Board with the advice and consent of the Senate and that, by law and tradition, a majority of the Board’s Members are from...more

9/19/2024 / Donald Trump , Joe Biden , NLRB , Political Candidates , Political Parties , Presidential Elections , Unions

Oversalted: NLRB Judge Facilitates Union Organizing, Throws Out Noncompete/Nonsolicit Agreements

A National Labor Relations Board Administrative Law Judge recently found that a company violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) by terminating a “union salt”— an organizer unions place at a workplace to unionize its...more

7/3/2024 / Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) , Employer Liability Issues , NLRB , Non-Compete Agreements , Non-Solicitation Agreements , Termination , Unfair Labor Practices , Union Organizers , Unions

FTC Bans Virtually All Employment-Based Noncompete Agreements, Business Groups Seeking Injunction

In a rare public meeting, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted 3-2 on April 23, 2024, to approve a final regulatory rule (Final Rule) which bans virtually all preexisting and future noncompete agreements with very few...more

4/25/2024 / Confidentiality Agreements , Federal Bans , Federal Trade Commission (FTC) , Final Rules , Franchises , Non-Compete Agreements , Non-Disclosure Agreement , Non-Solicitation Agreements , Restrictive Covenants , Unfair Competition

UAW Wins Big at VW; Now What?

The United Auto Workers won a potentially momentum-shifting organizing victory last week. In a secret ballot election conducted by the NLRB at a Chattanooga, Tennessee Volkswagen plant, nearly 75% of the putative bargaining...more

4/23/2024 / NLRB , Secret Ballot , UAW , Union Elections , Union Organizers , Unions

Federal Court Throws Out NLRB’s Controversial Joint Employer Rule

In a move welcomed by employers nationwide, a Texas federal court judge has vacated the National Labor Relations Board’s proposed joint employer rule. The decision, handed down late on March 8, 2024 by Judge J. Campbell...more

3/12/2024 / Common Law Test , Federal Labor Laws , Joint Employers , NLRB , Proposed Rules , Wage and Hour

As Unionization Efforts Increase, New York Bans ‘Captive Audience Meetings’

New York recently prohibited employers from disciplining employees who refuse to attend meetings or listen to communications where the “primary purpose” is for management to express its views on religious or political...more

9/14/2023 / Employer Liability Issues , New York , State Labor Laws , Union Related-Speech , Unions , Wage and Hour

In Latest Pro-Labor Rulings, NLRB Sharply Curtails Management’s Ability to Change Union Workers' Employment Terms

In a pair of decisions issued on Aug. 30, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) established new, restrictive standards for evaluating when a unionized employer may avoid bargaining over changes to employees’ terms...more

9/7/2023 / Collective Bargaining , Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) , Employer Liability Issues , Employment Terms , Labor Relations , Layoffs , NLRA , NLRB , NLRB General Counsel , Raytheon , Unions

NLRB's New Framework for Union Organizing Puts Employers at a Severe Disadvantage

The National Labor Relations Board has issued a groundbreaking decision that jettisons 50 years of established law to provide unions a more favorable framework to organize nonunion companies. On the heels of new rules...more

8/29/2023 / Collective Bargaining , Employer Liability Issues , Labor Relations , NLRA , NLRB , NLRB General Counsel , Teamsters , Unfair Labor Practices , Union Elections , Union Organizers , Unions

NLRB General Counsel Ratchets Up Effort to Prohibit Most Employment-Based Non-Competes

Jennifer Abruzzo, the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), has called for non-compete agreements to be curtailed on a nationwide basis for a large swath of employees. In a recent memorandum – which is...more

6/1/2023 / Competition , Federal Trade Commission (FTC) , NLRA , NLRB , NLRB General Counsel , Non-Compete Agreements

NLRB Says No to Confidentiality, Nondisparagement Provisions in Severance Agreements

The National Labor Relations Board issued another ground-breaking decision on February 21, 2023, ruling that confidentiality and nondisparagement agreements commonly included in employment severance agreements may be deemed...more

2/24/2023 / Confidentiality Agreements , Furloughs , NLRA , NLRB , Non-Disparagement Provisions , Section 7 , Severance Agreements

FTC Proposes Rule to Ban Non-Compete Clauses

In a broad and sweeping exercise of regulatory power, on January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to prohibit employers from utilizing non-compete clauses. The...more

1/6/2023 / Federal Trade Commission (FTC) , FTC Act , Non-Compete Agreements , Non-Disclosure Agreement , NPRM , Proposed Rules , Public Comment

Employers Watch Warily as Case Filings at NLRB Soar

While commentators debate whether or not the economy is in a recession, one area where business is booming is at the National Labor Relations Board, which recently announced a significant increase in case filings for the...more

10/18/2022 / Collective Bargaining , Employer Liability Issues , NLRB , Unfair Labor Practices , Unions , Wage and Hour

NLRB Hands Unions Another Win; Requires Employers to Maintain Dues Checkoff Following Contract Expiration

For a second time in recent weeks, the National Labor Relations Board has chosen to bolster unions’ rights at employers’ expense. On September 30, 2022, in Valley Hospital Medical Center, Inc., 371 NLRB No. 160 (2022), a...more

10/5/2022 / Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) , Dues Checkoff , NLRB , Union Dues , Unions , Wage Deductions

NLRB Administrative Law Judge Rules NLRA Does Not Protect BLM Messaging at Workplace

A National Labor Relations Board Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) recently dismissed a complaint against Home Depot USA, Inc., in which the NLRB General Counsel (GC) alleged the company violated the National Labor Relations Act...more

6/22/2022 / Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) , Black Lives Matter , Corporate Counsel , Discrimination , Dress Codes , NLRA , NLRB , NLRB General Counsel , Protected Activity , Unfair Labor Practices

NLRB GC Seeks to Curtail Employers’ Defenses to Union Organizing Amidst Huge Increase in Union Election Petitions

On April 6, the National Labor Relations Board announced that union representation petitions filed with the agency during the first six (6) months of the fiscal year had increased 57% from the previous year....more

4/11/2022 / NLRA , NLRB , NLRB General Counsel , Union Elections , Union Organizers , Unions

NLRB GC’s Extreme Agenda on Display at ABA Mid-Winter Meeting

Last week, the American Bar Association’s Section on Labor and Employment Law, Committee on the Developing Labor Law, gathered in Kauai for its annual mid-winter meeting, featuring presentations from top labor law attorneys...more

3/8/2022 / Employee Rights , Employment Policies , NLRA , NLRB , NLRB General Counsel , Protected Activity

More Sound and Fury from the NLRB GC – Signifying What, Exactly?

NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo announced, in a February 1 memorandum, that the Board will consider seeking interim injunctive relief – heretofore an extraordinary remedy reserved for particularly serious unfair labor...more

2/4/2022 / Coercion , Injunctive Relief , NLRA , NLRB , Unfair Labor Practices , Union Organizers , Unions

NLRB Complaint Suggests Employers Cannot Prohibit BLM Messaging in the Workplace

On December 3, Region 20 of the National Labor Relations Board issued a sweeping, consolidated complaint alleging that Whole Foods Market, Inc. violated federal labor law by maintaining and enforcing rules regarding workplace...more

12/20/2021 / Black Lives Matter , Dress Codes , Employee Rights , Masks , NLRB , Whole Foods

Lessons for Management from the John Deere Strike

The John Deere Co. Strike – Sign of the Times? In case you missed it, a major battle between labor and management is playing out in the heartland. On October 14, over 10,000 UAW-represented workers at John Deere Co....more

11/10/2021 / Collective Bargaining , Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) , Hiring & Firing , John Deere , NLRB , Popular , Strike , Wage and Hour , Wages

NLRB General Counsel Signals Stronger Enforcement Actions Against Employers, Part Two: ‘Seeking Full Remedies’

Last month, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued not one, but two memoranda directing Regional Offices to pursue a vastly expanded array of “remedies” against employers in unfair labor...more

10/14/2021 / Collective Bargaining , Employee Rights , Employer Liability Issues , Enforcement Actions , NLRA , NLRB , NLRB General Counsel , Remedies , Unfair Labor Practices , Union Organizers

NLRB General Counsel Signals Much Stronger Enforcement Actions Against Employers