The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) just made it easier for labor unions to organize smaller bargaining units known as “micro units” that can include small sub-sets of the overall workforce. The Board’s move, which...more
The top lawyer from the National Labor Relations Board recently announced that agency investigators should target workplace surveillance and “algorithmic management” technologies that have a “tendency” to interfere with...more
The National Labor Relations Board just took the first step towards scrapping Trump-era rules that had made it easier for workers to undo union representation, the next pro-labor move from an increasingly active federal...more
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) just proposed a controversial new rule that could soon make it easier for workers to be considered employees of more than one entity for labor relations purposes. The Biden...more
9/8/2022
/ Comment Period ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Terms ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRB ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Right to Control ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Terms and Conditions
A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. recently issued a decision in the latest installment of the Browning-Ferris joint-employer dispute that should serve as a reminder to employers across the country that change is...more
An employer can generally refuse a union’s demand for recognition and insist on a secret ballot vote, according to established federal labor law authority, but relying on this authority seems somewhat risky at the moment. For...more
The National Labor Relations Board is actively looking to modify the legal standards that for the past five years have provided a commonsense solution for evaluating the legality of commonplace workplace misconduct rules. And...more
The NLRB’s top prosecutor just issued a memo which seeks to bar employers from convening employee meetings on working time to address union representation unless they provide employees specific assurances that participation...more
Welcome to FP Forecast, a monthly outlook featuring Fisher Phillips thought leaders providing their insights into what employers can expect in 2022 and beyond. By following along each month, you’ll be in the best position to...more
3/16/2022
/ Biometric Information ,
Cyber Threats ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Employee Monitoring ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Former Employee ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Relations ,
Mental Health ,
Metaverse ,
NLRB ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Privacy Laws ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Ransomware ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Remote Working ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
State Privacy Laws ,
Trade Secrets ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions ,
Virtual Meetings
When COVID-19 vaccines were made available to the public in January 2021, we published an Insight advising unionized employers of the unique challenges involving vaccine mandates from a bargaining perspective. Ten months...more
As we recently forecasted, the House of Representatives has reintroduced a bill designed to radically transform the labor relations landscape, substantially tilting the playing field towards organized labor. The “Protecting...more
2/9/2021
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
Confidential Information ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Relations ,
Micro-Unions ,
Misclassification ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Posting Requirements ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Protests ,
Quickie Election Rules ,
Secondary Boycott ,
Union Elections ,
Union Membership ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions
The NLRB recently issued a pair of advice memos governing the obligation of parties to engage in remote collective bargaining and to negotiate over the concept of hazard pay in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. These...more
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes for the past few years—and this past month...more
9/10/2020
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Medical Leave ,
Misclassification ,
NLRB ,
Paid Leave ,
Payroll Taxes ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Remote Working ,
Telecommuting ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wrongful Death
This article addresses many employment-related issues facing employers in the wake of hurricane-related disasters; consequently, in addition to federal laws, we also focus on certain state laws, especially those in the areas...more
8/21/2020
/ Business Closures ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Charitable Donations ,
COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Employees ,
Data Privacy ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Force Majeure Clause ,
Foreign Workers ,
Form I-9 ,
H-1B ,
Health and Safety ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Health Plan Sponsors ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
HIPAA Privacy Rule ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Hurricane Season ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Labor Relations ,
Medical Leave ,
Military Leave ,
Military Service Members ,
Natural Disasters ,
NLRB ,
OSHA ,
Retirement ,
Retirement Plan ,
Retirement Plan Providers ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Unemployment Compensation System ,
Unions ,
USCIS ,
USERRA ,
Visa Applications ,
Visas ,
Volunteers ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Hazards ,
Workplace Injury ,
Workplace Safety
Addressing the issue for the first time since the pandemic, the National Labor Relations Board recently released a series of advice memoranda instructing its Regional offices to dismiss various COVID-19 related charges...more
8/19/2020
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Business Closures ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Duty to Bargain ,
Employer Rights ,
Hazard Pay ,
Health and Safety ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Lay-Offs ,
New Guidance ,
NLRB ,
Paid Sick Leave ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Retaliation ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
The National Labor Relations Board took the opportunity last week to double down on its recent reversal of the Purple Communications doctrine, holding that T-Mobile USA did not violate federal labor law by implementing a rule...more
6/2/2020
/ Electronic Communications ,
Email ,
Email Policies ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Information Technology ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Purple Communications ,
Reversal ,
Section 7 ,
T-Mobile ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions
On the eve of their scheduled implementation date, a federal court judge in Washington, D.C. struck down significant portions of the National Labor Relation’s Board new union representation procedures – handing a significant...more
The National Labor Relations Board just published a final rule that will soon fundamentally alter the definition of joint employment, making it more difficult for businesses to be held legally responsible for alleged labor...more
2/26/2020
/ Burden of Proof ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Franchises ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Joint Employers ,
New Rules ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Staffing Agencies ,
Terms and Conditions ,
Wage and Hour
At the end stages of lone Democrat Board Member McFerran’s term, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Friday, December 13th, issued the first of what may be a number of rulings in the form of a procedural regulation...more
Joint employment took center stage yesterday during the release of the Fall Regulatory Agenda, as three separate federal agencies announced plans to move forward with revised joint employment rules in December. While the...more
Labor Board Further Tightens Union Access To Employer Property -
In yet another ruling that levels the labor relations playing field, the National Labor Relations Board ruled on Friday that employers could rightfully...more
9/10/2019
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
Private Property ,
Property Access ,
Union Organizers ,
Union Representatives ,
Unions
The U.S. Department of Labor just became the latest federal agency to propose a rule to limit the scope of joint employment liability, this time for wage and hour matters. If the rule released earlier yesterday is adopted in...more
4/2/2019
/ Browning-Ferris Industries of California Inc. ,
Comment Period ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Joint Employers ,
Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA) ,
NLRB ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Proposed Rules ,
Terms and Conditions ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
In a significant ruling which will benefit companies, the National Labor Relations Board on January 25th, revised the test it uses for determining whether workers are employees or independent contractors by making it easier...more
As of Saturday, the current federal government shutdown became the longest in our nation’s history—and employers are starting to feel the sting. While the peculiarities of the federal budget process meant that this shutdown...more
1/14/2019
/ Anti-Deficiency Act ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
E-Verify ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Budget ,
Federal Contractors ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
Government Agencies ,
Government Shutdown ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRB ,
OSHA ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Visas ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
With one final jolt to end the year, a federal appeals court ruled Friday that the impractical joint employer test originally adopted by the Obama-era National Labor Relations Board in 2015 was properly enacted and therefore...more