The National Labor Relations Board recently held that a group of employees who were advocating on behalf of unpaid interns were not engaged in protected activity because the interns were not “employees” as that term is defined in Section 2(3) of the National Labor Relations Act.  In so doing, the Board reaffirmed its longstanding precedent that individuals who do not receive or anticipate economic compensation are not statutory employees.  The Board also rejected the application of a test for defining employees that has been adopted by numerous courts and the Department of Labor for determining whether unpaid interns are employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The Board also concluded that a management representative’s comments to its employees that she was disappointed that her employees provided her with a petition memorializing their thoughts concerning the pay status of unpaid interns rather than using the company’s “open doors” policy, among other similar commentary, did not rise to the level of a threat of reprisal in violation of Section 8(a)(1) of the Act.

Factual Background

The employer is a non-profit organization employing approximately 25 employees and 15 unpaid interns.  The unpaid interns started a petition requesting compensation for their volunteering.  Two paid, unionized employees provided feedback and support on the petition, and helped the interns solicit signatures.  Eventually, the unpaid interns collected signatures from all but a few of the office’s paid employees—but the group of interns and employees had yet to provide the petition to the employer.

At a staff meeting a few months later, an employee asked the employer to consider paying the interns.  The employer responded positively and discussed the organization’s upcoming plans for implementing a paid internship program, which would include a significant reduction in the number of interns at the office.  At this point, the employer was still unaware of the petition.

That changed the next day, when the interns e-mailed the employer their signed petition, which included signatures of the paid employees.  In response, the employer’s director and the executive team decided to accelerate plans to switch to paid internships.  To management’s frustration, many employees reacted negatively to the paid internship plan, concerned that a sharp reduction in interns would constrain employees’ ability to do their work.  The employer’s representative expressed disappointment that employees did not avail themselves of the organization’s open-door policy to discuss this matter before using an “adversarial” petition.

The following month, an employee who had been a driving force behind the petition initiated a one-on-one meeting with the employer.  The employer mentioned she perceived the petition to be “litigious,” “adversarial” and “sort of levy[ing] a threat.”  She suggested that the employee could have told the interns to “give me a heads-up.”  She repeated later, “I’m not asking anybody to tell on somebody… if you let [me] know your intentions, what you are seeking.”

This conversation resulted in charges being filed.  The ALJ, applying the test of employees used by the Department of Labor concluded that the unpaid interns were employees.  The ALJ also concluded that management’s statement of being “disappointed” in employees who signed the petition violated Section 8(a)(1) as a coercive statement.

NLRB Reverses

In reversing the ALJ the Board reaffirmed a more than 20-year NLRA principle that unpaid workers are not “employees” who are protected by  the Act because they do not “receive or anticipate any economic compensation” from the employer.  Here, the employer’s interns were unpaid and, therefore, were not protected by the Act.  The Board declined to extend a multi-factor test for determining “employee” status of unpaid interns at for-profit institutions used by a majority of courts and the DOL.  This test focuses on whether the unpaid intern or purported employer primarily benefitted from the relationship.

Under the Act, unpaid interns are not protected and do not have a right to unionize.  The Board concluded that because the paid employees’ actions in signing the petition did not concern “wages, hours or other terms and conditions of employment “ of employees, then the paid employees were not engaged in protected activity.

The Board also concluded the employer’s statements did not violate Section 8(a)(1) and instead were protected under Section 8(c) of the Act, as the statements did not constitute a threat of reprisal or force or promise or benefit.  The Board found that in this context, the employer’s statements merely evidenced a desire for better communication from her employees in the future.  She did not threaten them, according to the Board majority.

Member McFerran’s Concurrence

While Member McFerran concurred with the majority’s result that the employer’s statements did not violate the Act because they did not constitute unlawful threats, she sharply disagreed with the majority’s conclusion that protected covered workers who joined together to help their coworkers who are not statutory employees did not constitute protected Section 7 activity.  McFerran noted that the Supreme Court has interpreted for “other mutual aid or protection” broadly, and the employees’ advocacy on behalf of the unpaid interns could improve or affect their own terms and conditions of employment directly.  This, according to Member McFerran, constituted protected conduct.

Takeaways

This is a decision that follows longstanding Board precedent.  Unpaid interns are not “employees” and so actions in support of these individuals by statutory employees was not covered by the Act.  This case demonstrates that the NLRB is not willing to apply tests used under other statutes to administer the Act.  The fact the Board members agreed that no violation of Section 8(a)(1) occurred because a member of management expressed “disappointment” in employees is a fairly commonsense conclusion.  To hold that such a statement was actually coercive of employees would be to upend a good many discussions held between management and employees.

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Photo of Mark Theodore Mark Theodore

Mark Theodore is a partner in the Labor & Employment Law Department. He has devoted his practice almost exclusively to representing management in all aspects of traditional labor law matters throughout the U.S. He is Co-Chair of Proskauer’s Labor-Management and Collective Bargaining Practice…

Mark Theodore is a partner in the Labor & Employment Law Department. He has devoted his practice almost exclusively to representing management in all aspects of traditional labor law matters throughout the U.S. He is Co-Chair of Proskauer’s Labor-Management and Collective Bargaining Practice Group.

Some recent highlights of his career include:

  • Successfully defended client against allegations that it had terminated a union supporter and isolated another. T-Mobile USA, Inc., 365 NLRB No. 15 (2017).
  • Successfully appealed NLRB findings that certain of client’s written policies violated the National Labor Relations Actions Act.  T-Mobile USA, Inc., 363 NLRB No. 171 (2016), enf’d in part, rev’d in part 865 F.3d 265 (5th Cir. 2017).
  • Represented major utility in NLRB proceedings related to organizing of planners.  Secured utility-wide bargaining unit. Bargained on behalf of grocery chain.  After negotiations reached an impasse, guided the company through lawful implementation of five year collective bargaining agreement.
  • Coordinated employer response in numerous strike situations including a work stoppage across 14 western states of the client’s operations.

Mark has extensive experience representing employers in all matters before the NLRB, including representation petitions, jurisdictional disputes and the handling of unfair labor practice charges from the date they are filed through trial and appeal. Mark has acted as lead negotiator for dozens of major companies in a variety of industries, including national, multi-unit, multi-location, multi-employer and multi-union bargaining. Mark has handled lockout and strike situations, coordinating the clients efforts.

In addition, Mark has handled hundreds of arbitrations involving virtually every area of dispute, including contract interest arbitration, contract interpretation, just cause termination/discipline, benefits, pay rates, and hours of work.

Photo of Joshua Fox Joshua Fox

Joshua S. Fox is a senior counsel in the Labor & Employment Law Department and a member of the Sports, Labor-Management Relations, Class and Collective Actions and Wage and Hour Groups.

As a member of the Sports Law Group, Josh has represented several…

Joshua S. Fox is a senior counsel in the Labor & Employment Law Department and a member of the Sports, Labor-Management Relations, Class and Collective Actions and Wage and Hour Groups.

As a member of the Sports Law Group, Josh has represented several Major League Baseball Clubs in all aspects of the salary arbitration process, including the Miami Marlins, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Kansas City Royals, San Francisco Giants, Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays. In particular, Josh successfully represented the Miami Marlins in their case against All-Star Catcher J.T. Realmuto, which was a significant club victory in salary arbitration. Josh also represents Major League Baseball and its clubs in ongoing litigation brought by current and former minor league players who allege minimum wage and overtime violations. Josh participated on the team that successfully defended Major League Baseball in a wage-and-hour lawsuit brought by a former volunteer for the 2013 All-Star FanFest, who alleged minimum wage violations under federal and state law. The lawsuit was dismissed by the federal district court, and was affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Josh also has extensive experience representing professional sports leagues and teams in grievance arbitration proceedings, including playing a vital role in all aspects of the grievance challenging the suspension for use of performance-enhancing drugs of then-New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez. Josh also has counseled NHL Clubs and served on the trial teams for grievances alleging violations of the collective bargaining agreement, including cases involving use of performance-enhancing substances, domestic violence issues, and supplementary discipline for on-ice conduct. He has played a key role in representing professional sports leagues in all aspects of their collective bargaining negotiations with players and officials, including the Major League Baseball, National Hockey League, the National Football League, Major League Soccer, the Professional Referee Organization, and the National Basketball Association,.

In addition, Josh has extensive experience representing clients in the performing arts industry, including the New York City Ballet, New York City Opera, Big Apple Circus, among many others, in collective bargaining negotiations with performers and musicians, the administration of their collective bargaining agreements, and in grievance arbitrations.

Josh also represents a diverse range of clients, including real estate developers and contractors, pipe line contractors, hospitals, hotels, manufacturers and public employers, in collective bargaining, counseling on general employment matters and proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board, New York State Public Employment Relations Board and arbitrators.

Josh has also recently served as an adjunct professor at Cornell University’s School of Industrial Labor Relations for the past two years, teaching a course regarding Major League Baseball salary arbitration.

Prior to joining Proskauer, Josh worked for a year and a half at the National Hockey League, where he was involved in all labor and employment matters, including preparations for collective bargaining, grievance arbitration, contract drafting and reviewing and employment counseling. Josh also interned in the labor relations department of Major League Baseball and at Region 2 of the National Labor Relations Board. He was a member of the Brooklyn Law Review and the Appellate Moot Court Honor Society and served as president of the Brooklyn Entertainment and Sports Law Society.