As we enter the second year of the pandemic, it has become increasingly apparent the various vaccinations approved for safeguarding against COVID-19 are a key element to returning to normal business operations. Employers...more
The Coronavirus pandemic has spawned a lot of questions—and a lot of headaches—for employers, who within the past year have needed to adapt to rapidly changing health, regulatory, and technological landscapes. With the...more
In Universal Health Services, Inc., 370 N.L.R.B. No. 118 (April 30, 2021), the Board dismissed a complaint alleging that an employer’s bargaining proposals seeking significant concessions violated the duty to bargain in good...more
5/10/2021
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Discipline ,
Duty to Bargain ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions
Over the past few years, the National Labor Relations Board has frequently weighed in on employer’s workplace and employee handbook policies, examining whether an employer’s policy impacts employees’ rights under Section 7 of...more
Though the National Labor Relations Board has established a pathway for holding in-person union elections, mail-ballot elections continue to be the norm in many Regions across the country. Of course, the more mail-ballot...more
In a recent decision by the NLRB, the Board upheld the lawfulness, in part, of an arbitration agreement that required employees to maintain the confidentiality of the arbitration proceedings, including the discovery process...more
It is an unfair labor practice for an employer to retaliate against (1) union supporters pursuant to Section 8(a)(3) of the National Labor Relations Act (the “Act”), and (2) employees for filing a complaint with the National...more
President Biden nominated Jennifer Abruzzo, Special Counsel for Strategic Initiatives for the Communications Workers of America, to be General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board. Abruzzo was a Board veteran with...more
When it comes to fellowship—and collective bargaining—it looks like “fellows” aren’t treated the same as their permanent status co-workers. In Phoenix News Times, LLC and The Newsguild–CWA, 370 NLRB No. 84 (Feb. 10, 2021),...more
As we recently reported, National Labor Relations Board Acting General Counsel Peter Sung Ohr recently gave us a peek behind the curtain at his prosecutorial priorities as General Counsel when he rolled back a number of...more
On February 1, National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) Acting General Counsel Peter Sung Ohr rescinded a slew of General Counsel Memos issued by his predecessor, Peter Robb. On February 2, Ohr continued his actions by rolling...more
President Biden named Peter Sung Ohr as Acting General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board today. Ohr is a career employee of the NLRB, having served as a Field Attorney, Deputy Assistant General Counsel in the...more
One day after a standoff between President Biden and NLRB General Counsel Peter Robb resulted in his unprecedented termination, President Biden fired the NLRB’s second-ranked attorney, NLRB Deputy General Counsel Alice Stock,...more
On his first day in office, President Biden fired NLRB General Counsel Peter Robb, according to a report by Bloomberg News. This marks the first time in the history of the NLRB that a President has terminated the agency’s...more
On January 14, 2021, the NLRB issued a decision in Asociacion de Empleados del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, 370 NLRB No. 71. The decision involved the issue of whether a term of employment contained in a collective...more
As we have discussed before, several years ago, the Board instituted a significant paradigm shift in analyzing the lawfulness of employers’ handbook policies in relation to employees’ Section 7 rights, when it issued its...more
The NLRB rang in the New Year by examining what constitutes an impression of unlawful surveillance. In Dignity Health d/b/a Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, 370 NLRB No. 67 (January 6, 2021), the Board reaffirmed helpful...more
In adopting the ALJ’s Recommended Order in S&S Enterprises, LLC d/b/a Appalachian Heating, Case No. 09-CA-235304, the NLRB found that a leaflet distributed by the employer during union organizing efforts, which stated that it...more
12/28/2020
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Employment Policies ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Section 7 ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Union Leaflets ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions
When an employee is disciplined and then claims the employer acted on account of union animus in violation of Section 8(a)(3) of the Act, evidence to support such a claim either can be proffered through direct evidence, such...more
12/16/2020
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Adverse Employment Action ,
Charging Party ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Failure to Investigate ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Unions ,
Wright Line Test
As we have often discussed, there is a fine line between protected and unprotected activity. Profane outbursts, deliberate misconduct, or highly-disruptive strikes may fall outside the protection of the NLRA, subjecting...more
12/15/2020
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Adverse Employment Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Offensive Language ,
Protected Concerted Activity
On October 23, 2020, the D.C. Circuit granted Davidson Hotel Company’s petition for review of unfair labor practices resulting from its refusal to bargain with two newly-certified bargaining units, and denied the NLRB’s...more
The NLRB’s Division of Advice recently released a long-awaited Advice Memorandum (originally issued in February 2019, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Case 28-CA-229134 (Feb. 22, 2019)) concerning the validity of two workplace rules...more
12/2/2020
/ Boeing ,
Civility ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Government Investigations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Protected Activity ,
Reasonableness Factors ,
Section 7
On November 24, 2020, the Board held that a high-level executive’s tweet violated Section 8(a)(1) of the NLRA by interfering with or restraining employees’ protected, concerted activity....more
As employers faced with a representation petition filed during the COVID-19 pandemic can attest, Regional Directors of the National Labor Relations Board have been incredibly reticent to hold in-person elections. Indeed,...more
11/11/2020
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Labor Regulations ,
Labor Relations ,
Mail-In Ballots ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Social Distancing ,
Union Elections ,
Unions
An age old question under the National Labor Relations Act is what constitutes “picketing”? By the Supreme Court’s definition, picketing is inherently coercive and may not be directed against a neutral employer. An issue...more
10/30/2020
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Coercion ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Labor Disputes ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Right to Picket ,
Unions