NLRB

On March 8, 2024, a Texas federal district court vacated the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “the Board”) 2023 joint employer rule (“2023 Rule), and restored the 2020 joint employer rule (“2020 Rule”).

As we previously reported, the NLRB proposed the 2023 Rule for determining joint employer status under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”).… Continue Reading

On Monday, February 5, a Regional Director of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a ruling that Dartmouth College basketball players are employees of the school, allowing them to vote on unionizing. The NLRB’s Boston Regional Director, Laura Sacks, issued her opinion after all 15 members of the Dartmouth men’s basketball team signed a petition on September 13, 2023 to be represented by the Service Employees International Union, Local 560, a union which already represents some of the school’s employees.… Continue Reading

On November 9, 2023, a coalition of business advocacy groups led by the US Chamber of Commerce filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas challenging the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) new final rule for determining joint employer status under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”).… Continue Reading

Under the Biden Administration’s influence, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB or “the Board”) has proposed a new Final Rule for determining joint employer status under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”). The Final Rule significantly relaxes the standard for two or more companies to be classified as joint employers who share equal liability for unfair labor practices, legal obligations to negotiate with labor unions, and who may be subject to union picketing or protests in the event of a labor dispute.… Continue Reading

On August 25, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board issued its decision in Cemex Construction Materials Pacific LLC (N.L.R.B., Case 28-CA-230115) – upending over fifty years of established law and setting forth a new, union-friendly framework for determining when employers are required to recognize and bargain with unions without a representation election. … Continue Reading

On Wednesday, August 2, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (“the Board”) continued its retreat from many of the decisions issued by its Trump-era iteration.  In Stericycle, Inc, 372 NLRB No. 113 (2023), the Board abandoned its decision in Boeing Co., 365 NLRB No. 154 (2017), which had announced a new business-friendly test for workplace rules, in favor of a framework derived by the Obama Board from Lutheran Heritage Village-Livonia, 343 NLRB No.… Continue Reading

Last week, the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) issued a decision changing the legal standard it will use to determine whether workers are “employees” covered by the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”), or independent contractors who are not.

Prior to 2019, the Board’s test for determining whether a worker was a statutory employee or independent contractor weighed a variety of factors, including those outlined in the Restatement (Second) of Agency:

(a) the extent of control which, by the agreement, the employer may exercise over the details of the work;

(b) whether or not the one employed is engaged in a distinct occupation or business;

(c) the kind of occupation, with reference to whether, in the locality, the work is usually done under the direction of the employer or by a specialist without supervision;

d) the skill required in the particular occupation;

e) whether the employer or the worker supplies the instrumentalities, tools, and the place of work for the person doing the work;

(f) the length of time for which the person is employed;

(g) the method of payment, whether by the time or by the job;

(h) whether or not the work is a part of the regular business of the employer;

(i) whether or not the parties believe they are creating the relation of employer and employee; and

(j) whether the principal is or is not in business.… Continue Reading

Last month, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that an employer violates Section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA or Act) when the employer offers employee severance agreements with provisions restricting employees’ Section 7 rights under the Act, such as with overly broad confidentiality and non-disparagement provisions.  McLaren Macomb, 372 NLRB No.… Continue Reading

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled that an employer violates Section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act when the employer uses employee severance agreements with provisions restricting employees’ exercise of their NLRA rights. In McLaren Macomb, 372 NLRB No. 58 (Feb. 21, 2023), the Board reversed its prior decisions in Baylor University Medical Center, 369 NLRB No.… Continue Reading

In a divided decision handed down yesterday, January 17, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit partially affirmed the decision of a federal District Court eliminating, in part, aspects of an employer-friendly 2019 Rule put in place by the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) to “ensure fair and accurate voting, transparency, uniformity, certainty and finality, and efficiency” in the union election process by, in effect, slowing some of the Obama-era NLRB’s “quickie election” procedures.  … Continue Reading