Memorandum 19-05, issued by the NLRB Division of Operations Management of the Office of the General Counsel in March 2019, gives Regional Directors a new tool to expedite cases when a charged party fails to cooperate with an unfair labor practice (ULP) investigation. Instead of relying on investigative subpoenas to acquire additional information, Regional
NLRB Overrules Precedent and Limits Use of Perfectly Clear Exception in Successorship Law
On April 2, 2019, in a 3-1 decision split along party lines, the Trump administration’s National Labor Relations Board (Board) appointees significantly narrowed the circumstances under which a successor employer will be construed as a perfectly clear successor and forced to forfeit its right to set initial employment terms. The decision, Ridgewood Health Care Center Inc., and Ridgewood Health Services, Inc., overrules precedent which had established that a successor employer which uses discriminatory hiring practices to target less than all of the bargaining unit’s employees and deprives the union of majority status is a perfectly clear employer. The decision allows a successor employer to retain its right to unilaterally set the initial terms of employment despite its discriminatory actions that directly affect less than all of the predecessor employees.
The NLRB Pumps the Brakes on Union’s Accretion Efforts
Unions commonly utilize clarification petitions to invoke accretion principles and try to bypass election procedures. However, the National Labor Relations Board’s recent decision in Recology Hay Road and Teamsters Local 315 illustrates how employers can avoid employee accretion into existing bargaining units by emphasizing the lack of interchange between bargaining unit employees and the non-bargaining unit employees at issue. Interchange occurs when employees alternate or transfer between positions.
Good News for Employers – Resetting the Standard for Protected Concerted Activity Under the National Labor Relations Act
Although the National Labor Relations Act was initially established to assist unions in organizing employees, its scope is much broader as it also protects employees’ rights to engage in “protected concerted activity.” The NLRB’s interpretation of what constitutes protected concerted activity has fluctuated over the years and, in particular, under the Obama administration it expanded
The Perfect Storm – The NLRB, Healthcare Staffing Issues, and a Letter to the Editor
Those involved in the world of healthcare cannot escape the ongoing debate regarding staffing levels at healthcare facilities. Main Coast Memorial Hospital recently became an unwitting focal point for this discussion. A number of internal communications between the nurses’ union and the Hospital over staffing resulted in a series of editorials in the local newspaper.
Stealing is Not Protected Activity
After years of stringent oversight, the National labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) is now loosening the reigns over workplace rules.
The Office of the General Counsel of the NLRB recently issued an advice memo analyzing the social media policy of Kumho Tires, a Georgia-based tire manufacturer. The General Counsel found the employer’s policy was facially lawful
New Guidelines for Public Bargaining in Missouri
For a number of years now, since the Missouri’s Supreme Court’s 2007 decision in Independence NEA v. Independence School District, there has been a great deal of confusion regarding the collective bargaining process in the State of Missouri for public employees. All processes for those employees that were specifically excluded from the statutory
D.C. Circuit to the NLRB: Lying is Not Protected Activity
Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit reversed and remanded a pro-employee Board decision concerning an employee who had been discharged based on the “disparaging content” of the testimony he made before state legislators.
Back in October 2012, a bargaining unit employee of Oncor Electric Delivery Company (Bobby Reed) testified before
NLRB Overturns Pro-Union Precedent Governing Employee Handbooks and Joint Employers
On December 14, 2017, the National Labor Relations Board (the “NLRB” or the “Board”) overruled Obama-era precedent involving two highly controversial decisions governing employee handbooks and joint employment standards.
Earlier this year, President Trump appointed two Republicans to the five-member NLRB resulting in a 3-2 Republican majority for the first time in a decade. As anticipated, the new “Trump Board” is beginning to dismantle a series of decisions that many believed to unfairly favor unions.
New Standard Governing Employee Handbooks
In a split 3-2 decision, the Board majority in . overturned its 2004 Lutheran Heritage standard, which had been used in recent years to render countless employer policies and rules unlawful. The former standard provided that a policy or rule is unlawful if employees could “reasonably construe” the language to bar them from exercising their rights under the NLRA, such as discussing terms and conditions of employment. For the past several years, the Lutheran Heritage standard has been heavily criticized for failing to take into account legitimate business justifications associated with employer policies, rules and handbook provisions in addition to yielding unpredictable and sometimes contradictory results. For example, the standard has deemed unlawful policies that require employees to “work harmoniously” or conduct themselves in a “positive and professional manner.”
NLRB Requests Input Regarding Retention of 2014 Quickie Election Rules
The NLRB today announced it is requesting Information from interested parties regarding whether or not the 2014 Election Rules should be retained in any fashion or at all. No doubt this is a heads up that these rules are going to have a short life span with the Agency. This will be a very public