On December 16, the final day of lone Democrat Lauren McFerran’s term, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) overruled a recent, Obama-era decision that required an employer to comply with its union dues...more
Just before the holiday season, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) provided employers with two big wins. First, on December 13, 2019, the NLRB announced its long awaited final rule to relax the Obama-era...more
12/16/2019
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Ambush Election Rules ,
Browning-Ferris Industries of California Inc. ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Franchisee ,
Franchises ,
Joint Employers ,
McDonalds ,
Minimum Wage ,
NLRB ,
Settlement ,
Union Elections ,
Wage and Hour
Last week, on November 7 at the American Bar Association’s annual labor and employment law conference, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) provided a glimpse into its upcoming intentions when discussing a planned...more
The Ninth Circuit ruled on October 1, 2019, that McDonald’s cannot be held liable for wage and hour violations allegedly committed by a franchisee in California because McDonald’s did not exert sufficient control over the...more
On Tuesday, September 24th, the DOL issued a final rule update to the federal law governing overtime pay that will affect thousands of workers and employers alike. The rule change will raise the salary threshold that...more
On September 9, 2019, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) continued its recent wave of activity in Boeing, 368 NLRB No. 67 (Sep. 9, 2019), by reaffirming its December 2017 decision in PCC Structurals, 355 NLRB No. 160...more
On Friday, September 6, 2019, the National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”) issued its third decision of the summer regarding employers’ ability to restrict access by nonemployees to its property (see prior analysis: Board...more
9/10/2019
/ Kroger ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Non-Employees ,
Off-Duty Employee Access ,
Off-Duty Employees ,
Private Property ,
Property Owners ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Protests ,
Section 7 ,
Unions
On August 29, 2019, the National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”) refused to extend the National Labor Relations Act (the “Act”) to create a new standalone violation under Section 8(a)(1). In Velox Express, Inc., 368 NLRB...more
A property owner generally has the right to control access to its property, including the rights to restrict hours of access, to prohibit certain activities when access is granted, and exclude or prevent access. These rights...more
The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) announced last week that it was proposing a series of rule changes. The first and most important focuses on updating its “blocking charge” policy, as well as revising the rules...more
On June 14, 2019, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) issued a 3-1 decision overturning a 38-year precedent regarding non-employee union access to public spaces within an employer’s property. UPMC, 368...more
While the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) recently made headlines with proposed changes to the federal standard for overtime exemptions, the ongoing saga may present further challenges for employers in the State of...more
5/8/2019
/ Comment Period ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Minimum Salary ,
Over-Time ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Public Comment ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
On April 24, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling that arbitration agreements must explicitly provide for class arbitration in order for that process to be available. In a close, 5-4 vote, the justices...more
4/25/2019
/ Ambiguous ,
Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Arbitration ,
Consent ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
Jurisdiction ,
Lamps Plus Inc v Varela ,
Motion to Compel ,
Preemption ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS
A March 27, 2019, ruling in a New Jersey case, Wild v. Carriage Funeral Holdings, Inc. et al., provides some interesting insights and continues the recent trend among courts in other states Delaware (2018), Connecticut...more
On April 1, 2019, employers received good news with the Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) proposed regulation limiting joint employer liability. As expected (see prior alert regarding NLRB rulemaking), the proposed rule narrows...more
On Thursday, March 28th, the DOL published another proposed rule change to overtime pay that could affect thousands of workers and employers alike. The proposal would clarify the circumstances under which certain employee...more
Last month, a California Court of Appeal reaffirmed that California’s Private Attorney General Act (“PAGA”) is outside the scope of the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) and the Supreme Court’s 2018 opinion in Epic Systems v....more
3/29/2019
/ #MeToo ,
Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Epic Systems Corp v Lewis ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Iskanian v CLS Transportation ,
NJLAD ,
NLRA ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Settlement Agreements
The National Labor Relations Board released a series of advice memoranda this week, two of which applied the new Boeing test to determine if a company rule or policy unlawfully restricts employees’ Section 7 right to engage...more
3/20/2019
/ Boeing ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employment Policies ,
Facebook ,
Logos ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Policy Memorandums ,
Social Networks ,
Unions ,
Workplace Attire
On Thursday, March 7th, the DOL published a proposed rule update to the federal law governing overtime pay that could affect thousands of workers and employers alike. The proposal would raise the salary threshold that...more
On Friday, January 25, 2019, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) overruled an Obama-era decision focused on determining whether workers were independent contractors or employees and restored entrepreneurship as a key...more
A California bill prompted by the #MeToo movement to prohibit employers from requiring workers to sign arbitration or nondisclosure agreements as a condition of employment is headed to the desk of Gov. Jerry Brown for final...more
Obama-Era Persuader Rule is Finally Dead -
On July 17, 2018, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) formally announced what has appeared inevitable since President Trump’s election – the Obama-era “Persuader Rule” is officially...more
On May 21, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, a 5-4 opinion written by Justice Neil Gorsuch, ended a six-year dispute started by the National Labor Relations Board’s 2012 decision in D.R. Horton. The...more
6/7/2018
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Discovery ,
Epic Systems Corp v Lewis ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Remedies ,
SCOTUS ,
Unions
On Thursday, May 31, 2018, 104 of 170 eligible employees at Boeing’s North Charleston, South Carolina plant voted in favor of union representation by the International Association of Machinists union (“IAM”). This IAM victory...more
Just over two months after the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) reversed the Browning-Ferris decision that re-wrote the test the NLRB used for joint employment (see our December 15 alert here), the Board vacated its...more