NLRB, Employment Policies, Administrative Law Judge (ALJ)

NLRB’s Non-Compete Power Grab – Can Employers Avoid NLRB’s Oversight?

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 7/19/2024

An administrative law judge (“ALJ”) of the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) in J.O. Mory, Inc. recently required an employer to rescind certain restrictive covenants in its employment agreements. The decision is yet...more

Employee Handbooks Remain Under Board Attack

BakerHostetler on 6/21/2024

During the Obama administration, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or the Board) stringently reviewed employee handbooks of nonunionized employers to determine whether particular policies infringed on employees’ rights...more

Appellate Court Rejects NLRB’s Findings in Employer Surveillance Case as “Nonsense”

Proskauer - Labor Relations Update on 4/1/2024

Declaring the NLRB’s rationale to be “nonsense,” on March 26, 2024, a unanimous three-judge panel for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in Stern Produce Company Inc v. NLRB, refused to enforce...more

NLRB Finds That Writing "BLM" on an Employee Uniform is Protected by the NLRA

Baker Donelson on 2/26/2024

In a case issued on February 21, 2024, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or the Board) has continued its expansion of the definition of "protected, concerted activity" under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations...more

It’s Protected: NLRB Finds “Black Lives Matter” Insignia on Employee Uniform Constitutes Protected Activity Under Circumstances

Proskauer - Labor Relations Update on 2/23/2024

The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”), in a 3-1 decision, held that an employee’s display on their work uniform of “BLM,” an acronym for Black Lives Matter, constituted protected concerted activity under Section 7 of...more

NLRB Adopts New Standard for Employer Work Rules

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP on 8/30/2023

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has adopted a new standard for evaluating challenges to employer work rules as facially unlawful under Section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), overruling a...more

Board Wipes Out Decades of Precedent with Card Check Requirements, Punts on Issuing “Captive Audience” Ban or New Rules About...

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 8/29/2023

On August 25, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) issued its much-anticipated Cemex decision, which has broad implications for union organizing. It handed unions a win with a partial return to the Joy...more

NLRB Focuses on When Video Cameras Can Create an ‘Unlawful Impression of Surveillance’

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on 4/25/2023

In a decision relevant for employers utilizing video surveillance equipment in the workplace and those considering the installation of video cameras, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) concluded that an employer...more

NLRB: Employer’s “Hard-Bargaining” Proposals—By Themselves—Did Not Violate Duty to Bargain in Good Faith

Proskauer - Labor Relations Update on 5/10/2021

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

Board Invites Briefing on Potentially Overturning “Johnnie’s Poultry” Standard for Questioning of Employees About Putative...

Proskauer - Labor Relations Update on 3/3/2021

On Monday, the Board voted 3-1 to solicit public briefing on whether it should overrule the Johnnie’s Poultry Co., 146 NLRB 770 (1964) safeguards employees must receive if they are questioned by employers about their own or...more

NLRB Finds Social Media Policies Lawful, Sheds Light on Impact of Boeing

Proskauer - Labor Relations Update on 1/15/2021

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

NLRB Holds that Leaflet Outlining Consequences for Threatening Workers Is Not Unlawful

Proskauer - Labor Relations Update on 12/28/2020

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

NLRB: An Inference of Union Animus Must Be Grounded in Sufficient Supporting Evidence under Wright Line

Proskauer - Labor Relations Update on 12/16/2020

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

NLRB: Employer’s Good-Faith Belief in Employee’s Misconduct Insufficient to Justify Terminating Employee Engaged in Protected...

Proskauer - Labor Relations Update on 12/15/2020

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

NLRB: Members Of Trade Group Are Not “Employees” Covered By The NLRA

Proskauer - Labor Relations Update on 9/24/2020

On September 11, 2020, a three-member National Labor Relations Board panel unanimously ruled that a trade group representing sign language interpreters did not violate Section 8(a)(1) of the Act by removing its members’ posts...more

Labor Board Approves Rules Allowing Company Search of Employee Vehicles and Employer Provided Electronic Devices

Franczek P.C. on 7/8/2020

In Verizon New York, Inc. (Verizon), the National Labor Relations Board (Board) recently found that a work rule reserving the right for the company to monitor and/or search personal property, and a rule permitting the company...more

NLRB Restores Precedent, Gives Employers Freedom to Unilaterally Discipline Union Employees Between Certification and First...

Proskauer - Labor Relations Update on 6/25/2020

The National Labor Relations Board continues to overrule Obama-Board precedent at a rapid pace. On June 23, 2020, in 800 River Road Operating Company, LLC d/b/a Care One at New Milford, 369 NLRB No. 109, the Board...more

NLRB Gives Green Light to Confidentiality Provisions in Individual Arbitration Agreements

Proskauer - Labor Relations Update on 6/23/2020

In many private arbitration agreements entered into in the non-union context, employers and employees agree that the proceedings shall remain confidential. On June 19, 2020, the Board addressed whether a confidentiality...more

NLRB Redefines “Solicitation,” Broadening Conduct that may be Considered Unprotected

Proskauer - Labor Relations Update on 6/4/2020

On May 29, 2020, the NLRB issued an important opinion overruling two decisions in order to define the term “solicitation” in a manner consistent with prior Board decisions and the dictionary definition of the term. Wynn Las...more

NLRB: Policy Prohibiting Personal Cell Phones in Work Areas Due to Safety Concerns May Be Lawful under Boeing

Proskauer - Labor Relations Update on 6/1/2020

As we previously suggested, the NLRB’s adoption of the Boeing standard for determining the lawfulness of employer’s workplace rules, policies and handbook provisions has provided significant fodder for interesting cases....more

Cell Phone Use on Hold in Manufacturing Plants After Recent NLRB Decision

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on 5/29/2020

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a supplemental decision on May 20, 2020, finding lawful a policy prohibiting employees from possessing or using their cell phones on the manufacturing floor or at their...more

Applying the Boeing Standard, NLRB Upholds Employer’s Policies Restricting Cell Phone Use, Non-Work Email Use and Disclosure of...

Proskauer - Labor Relations Update on 2/24/2020

Applying the facially neutral work rule test laid out in Boeing, the Board recently reversed an Administrative Law Judge decision, concluding that the employer maintained lawful workplace rules restricting employee use of (i)...more

National Labor Relations Board › Employment Policies › Administrative Law Judge (ALJ)