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
NLRB
NLRB Establishes New Restrictions on Severance Agreements
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
D.C. Circuit Takes on NLRB Rule Impacting Union Election Process
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
Board Limits Ability to Prohibit Labor Protests
For the second time in less than a week, the National Labor Relations Board has thrown out a Trump-era standard and reinstated Obama-era rules favorable to labor unions. In Bexar County Performing Arts Center Foundation, 16-CA-193636 (“Bexar County II“), the Board restricted a business owner’s ability to prohibit off-duty contract workers from conducting labor protests on its property.… Continue Reading
NLRB Adds Consequential Damages to Standard Remedy for Unfair Labor Practices
Employers that violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) will have to pay workers additional damages under a recently issued precedential decision from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board).
In Thryv, Inc., the NLRB ruled 3-2 that the Board’s standard remedy for make-whole relief should include consequential damages. The Board now will “expressly order that the respondent compensate affected employees for all direct or foreseeable pecuniary harms suffered as a result of the respondent’s unfair labor practice” to more fully realize the concept of “make-whole relief” under Section 10(c) of the NLRA. … Continue Reading
NLRB Proposes Changes to Election Blocking Charge Rule, Voluntary Recognition Bar Doctrine, and Construction Industry Bargaining
The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) inviting public comment on a proposed rule that would rescind and replace an April 2020 rule which currently governs: 1) the filing and processing of petitions for a Board-conducted representation election while unfair labor practice charges are pending; and 2) the filing and processing of petitions following an employer’s voluntary recognition of a union as the majority-supported collective bargaining representative.… Continue Reading
NLRB Announces Proposed New Joint Employer Rule
Yesterday, the NLRB published a proposed rule designed to rescind and replace the Trump-era rule used to determine whether two companies are joint employers under the NLRA. Under the rule adopted during the Trump Administration, an employer can be a joint employer with another entity if it has substantial direct and immediate control over the essential terms and conditions of employment of the other entity’s workers.… Continue Reading
FTC and NLRB Announce New Coordination Efforts
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) resolving to enhance the enforcement of federal laws and regulations administered by these agencies, and to promote interagency collaboration through information sharing, cross-agency training, and coordinated outreach. The stated goal is to “better root out practices that harm workers in the ‘gig economy’ and other labor markets.” … Continue Reading
NLRB General Counsel Calls for Expansion of Card Check to Remove Barriers to Unionization
Earlier this week, in an ongoing case between Cemex Construction Materials Pacific, LLC and International Brotherhood of Teamsters, NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo filed a brief calling for the Board to reinstate the 1949 Joy Silk Mills decision – which has not been enforced since the late 1960s. Under Joy Silk, employers may be required to recognize and bargain with a labor group prior to an election when the union provides evidence of authorization cards signed by a majority of the employees in the proposed unit (known as a card check), unless they have clear evidence against the group’s majority support.… Continue Reading
NLRB General Counsel Opines that ‘Captive Audience’ and Other Mandatory Meetings Violate Federal Labor Law
On April 7, 2022, in a move that could dramatically alter long-established employer tactics in union organizing campaigns, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a memorandum announcing that she will ask the Board to find what are commonly known as “captive audience” meetings to constitute an unfair labor practice (ULP) under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).… Continue Reading