Reversing decades of precedent, the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) issued two recent decisions that will significantly restrict the right of employers to provide information to their employees about the impact of unionization. Both cases were decided by a 3-1 majority of the Board’s Democratic members, in what appears to be an eleventh-hour push to change well-settled law in advance of the Trump administration taking the reins next year.… Continue Reading
Rebecca A. Leaf
Maryland Employers: Six Must-Know Employment Law Changes
The Maryland legislature recently passed several laws that affect pay transparency, family and medical leave, the scope of the State’s antidiscrimination laws, workplace safety, and noncompete agreements. As many of these new laws already have taken effect, now is the time for Maryland employers to take steps to ensure compliance.
On October 1, 2024, Maryland joined a host of other states requiring pay transparency in internal and external job postings.… Continue Reading
NLRB To End Practice of Consent Orders, Overruling UPMC
In a 3-1 decision, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) ended the agency’s practice of approving “consent orders,” which permitted an administrative law judge to resolve an unfair labor practice case before adjudication based on terms offered solely by the respondent. The Board’s decision will make it more difficult for employers to settle cases at the NLRB unless they are willing to accept the full remedy sought by the general counsel. … Continue Reading
NLRB General Counsel Says Certain College Athletes are Protected by Federal Labor Law
In a statement that portends additional scrutiny of the “working conditions” of college and university athletes, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo has publicly stated her view that scholarship athletes at academic institutions are employees who have the right to organize and to be protected from discrimination and retaliation when they act concertedly to improve their working conditions.… Continue Reading
NLRB Makes Settlement More Difficult
On September 15, 2021, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)’s General Counsel instructed regional offices to take a more aggressive stance in settlement negotiations in unfair labor practice cases, seeking broader remedies for workers.
In GC Memorandum 21-07, which builds upon GC Memorandum 21-06 issued last week, new NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo encouraged regional offices to be creative in the remedies sought in settlement, reasoning that they may be able to obtain more for workers during settlement than in litigation before the Board.… Continue Reading
New NLRB General Counsel Announces Agenda to Strengthen Workplace Rights
On August 12, 2021, the new General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board), Jennifer Abruzzo, announced her intention to target certain legal decisions issued in the last four years that she described as “doctrinal shifts” away from settled law, and a set of older decisions that she would like to “carefully examine.” … Continue Reading