The recent split decision of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Circus Circus Casinos, Inc., 366 NLRB No. 110 (June 15, 2018), is a reminder that the validity of an employee’s request for Weingarten assistance at an...more
On September 28, 2017, the Supreme Court of the United States announced that it will grant certiorari in a case that will test the constitutionality of requiring mandatory payment of “fair share” union dues to be paid by...more
August 11, 2017, was the deadline for interested parties to submit comments regarding the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) proposal to formally rescind its controversial persuader rule, which was issued in 2016 under the...more
8/16/2017
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Comment Period ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Final Rules ,
Injunctions ,
LMRDA ,
NPRM ,
Obama Administration ,
Permanent Injunctions ,
Persuader Rules ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Trump Administration ,
Unions
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) moved one step closer to undoing President Obama's permanently enjoined “persuader activity” regulation when, on June 12, the agency issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for reverse...more
6/29/2017
/ Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Comment Period ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
LMRDA ,
NLRB ,
NPRM ,
Obama Administration ,
Permanent Injunctions ,
Persuader Rules ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Taft-Hartley Act ,
Unions
On November 16, 2016, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas (Lubbock Division) converted its injunction preventing implementation of the U.S. Department of Labor’s revised persuader rule on a national...more
On June 27, 2016, in National Federation of Independent Business et al. v. Perez, et al., the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas (Lubbock Division) granted Plaintiffs’ Motion for a Preliminary Injunction,...more
National Federation of Independent Business et al. v. Perez, et al.
On June 27, 2016, in National Federation of Independent Business et al. v. Perez, et al., the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas (Lubbock Division) granted Plaintiffs’ Motion for a Preliminary Injunction,...more
6/28/2016
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Fifth Amendment ,
First Amendment ,
Imminent Harm ,
Likelihood of Success ,
LMRDA ,
Persuader Rules ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Unions
On June 22, 2016, in Labnet, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota issued the first decision arising out of three separate lawsuits seeking preliminary injunctions blocking...more
In yet another assault on long-established labor law precedent, on May 9, 2016, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel Richard Griffin ordered the issuance of NLRB complaints in every case in which an employer...more
The minimum salary threshold to qualify for the executive, administrative, and professional exemptions to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) will more than double on December 1, 2016, from $23,660 per year to $47,476 per...more
6/21/2016
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Ban the Box ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Electronic Reporting ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
LMRDA ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Minimum Salary ,
OSHA ,
Over-Time ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Persuader Rules ,
Preemption ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions ,
Workplace Injury ,
Workplace Safety
In accordance with the U.S. Department of Labor’s recent public announcement regarding the implementation of its new “persuader activity” rule, all engagements entered into prior to July 1, 2016—including long-term or...more
6/14/2016
/ Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Consultants ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Fifth Amendment ,
Final Rules ,
First Amendment ,
LMRDA ,
Persuader Rules ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Unions
On May 31, a divided National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a very significant decision in American Baptist Homes of the West, increasing the impact of an employer’s motive in deciding whether the permanent replacement...more
6/6/2016
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Back Pay ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Hiring & Firing ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Reinstatement ,
Right to Strike ,
SEIU ,
Unions
On March 22, 2016, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel Richard Griffin released Memorandum GC 16-01, entitled "Mandatory Submissions to the Division of Advice." The memorandum instructs the Board's regional...more
4/22/2016
/ Email Policies ,
English-Only Rules ,
Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces ,
Federal Contractors ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Purple Communications ,
Unions ,
Weingarten Rights
On April 13, 2016, the Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a Form LM-21 Special Enforcement Policy announcement. Effective immediately, the policy is suspending the...more
4/18/2016
/ Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Consultants ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
Filing Requirements ,
Final Rules ,
Injunctive Relief ,
LMRDA ,
OLMS ,
Persuader Rules ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Union Elections ,
Unions
On March 23, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued final regulations revising the “advice exemption” and requiring employers and consultants (including lawyers) to report labor relations advice and services under...more
3/26/2016
/ American Bar Association (ABA) ,
Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Consultants ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Final Rules ,
LMRDA ,
NLRB ,
Persuader Rules ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Supervisors ,
Trade Associations ,
Unions
What is on the horizon for labor and employment policy in 2016, the last year of the Obama administration when the president will seek to cement his legacy, and a national election year when the White House and control of...more
1/18/2016
/ Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces ,
Friedrichs v CA Teachers Association ,
NLRB ,
Obama Administration ,
Popular ,
Right to Work ,
SCOTUS ,
Trans-Pacific Partnership ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
Don't look now, but the U.S. Department of Labor’s latest Fall 2015 Semiannual Regulatory Agenda advances the controversial proposed revisions to the "persuader activity" reporting requirements under the Labor-Management...more
It must be frustrating to be in the minority of an administrative adjudicatory body and to constantly be forced to write dissenting opinions, as was the case for former National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) member Brian E....more
7/23/2015
/ Appeals ,
AT&T ,
Canning v NLRB ,
Communication Workers of America ,
Dress Codes ,
Employment Policies ,
Exceptions ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Recess Appointments ,
Section 7 ,
Special Circumstances Doctrine ,
Unions
On June 24, 2015, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a new decision involving allegations that an employer had unlawfully discharged an employee who had scrawled sexually-oriented obscenities and threatening...more
Since the expiration of a labor contract in July 2014, negotiations for a new contract have dragged on between management representatives of the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA)—a multi-employer bargaining association...more
Today, the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions conducted an oversight hearing titled, “What Should Workers and Employers Expect Next From the National Labor Relations Board?”...more
On Friday, May 23, 2014, the White House, through its executive branch and other federal agencies, issued the Spring 2014 edition of the Semiannual Regulatory Agenda. Published twice a year, the agencies’ regulatory agendas...more
6/4/2014
/ Affirmative Action ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Final Rules ,
HUD ,
Minimum Wage ,
NLRB ,
Obama Administration ,
OFCCP ,
OMB ,
Persuader Rules ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Unions ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour
Over 50 speakers testified, some of them on multiple panels, during the National Labor Relations Board’s two-day public meeting on representation election (“R-Case”) procedures on April 10-11. The oral testimony was part of...more
Today, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced its intention to reissue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for what has become known as the “ambush election” rules governing the procedures for union...more
On Monday, July 29, workers staged a series of one-day strikes in seven cities across the country at some of the nation’s best known and most profitable fast-food restaurants....more