In a report released on March 29, 2021, the Governmental Accountability Office (“GAO”) announced that between fiscal years 2010 and 2019, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) experienced a 26% decrease in total staff. The most significant reductions taking place in Regional offices which saw a 33% reduction compared to only an 8% reduction at the Board’s headquarters.

A Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey revealed that NLRB employees were increasingly dissatisfied with the sufficiency of resources and the overall organization in recent years. The report mentioned that staff have expressed concern about workloads and warned the Board of overburdening staff and compromising the quality of work.

Although the Board’s total number of cases (representation cases and unfair labor practice cases) dropped by 22% since 2010; the significant decline in regional staffing outpaces the decline in cases. The report noted that this reduction could exacerbate the burden on current staff.

The reduction in staff is also coupled with a growth in unobligated funds. In the NLRB’s 2019 fiscal year, more than $5 million of the year’s appropriations were not obligated. The GAO reported that total appropriations fell from $283 million in 2010 to $274 million in 2019; a decrease of 17% when allowing for inflation. The Board, according to the report, therefore, experienced a $46 million decline in purchasing power.

To combat these issues, the GAO made the following recommendations for the NLRB:

  1. Develop objective and quantifiable performance measures, with associated target levels of performance, for timeliness and quality for unfair labor practices and representation cases; organizational excellence; and resource management;
  2. Develop mechanisms to ensure that the quality review of case files is conducted in a manner consistent with agency guidance;
  3. Evaluate performance pressure on personnel and make resource adjustments as necessary; and
  4. Develop mechanisms to improve communication with the key internal stakeholders to increase transparency and collaboration in implementing agency policies.

The NLRB has agreed to these recommendations. We anticipate as a result of the adoption of these recommendations that there will be an increased focus on hiring in the NLRB regional offices, and in turn, the NLRB will increase their caseload.

 

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Photo of Steven Porzio Steven Porzio

Steven J. Porzio is a partner in the Labor & Employment Law Department and a member of the Labor-Management Relations Group. Steve assists both unionized and union-free clients with a full range of labor and employee relations matters. He represents employers in contract…

Steven J. Porzio is a partner in the Labor & Employment Law Department and a member of the Labor-Management Relations Group. Steve assists both unionized and union-free clients with a full range of labor and employee relations matters. He represents employers in contract negotiations, arbitrations, and representation and unfair labor practice cases before the National Labor Relations Board.

Steve has experience conducting vulnerability assessments and providing management training in union and litigation avoidance, leave management, wage and hour, and hiring and firing practices. He provides strategic and legal advice in certification and decertification elections, union organizing drives, corporate campaigns, picketing and union contract campaigns. Steve has represented employers in a number of different industries, including higher education, health care, construction and manufacturing in successful efforts against unions in election and corporate campaigns.

In addition to his traditional labor law work, Steve assists companies with handbook and personnel policy drafting and review, daily management of employee disciplines and terminations, and general advice and counsel on compliance with federal and state employment laws.

Steve’s litigation experience includes work on matters before state and federal courts, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, the New York State Division of Human Rights and various other administrative agencies. He has litigated matters involving age, race, national origin, gender and disability discrimination, wage and hour, whistleblower and wrongful termination claims.

While attending the Syracuse University College of Law, Steve served as the editor-in-chief of the Syracuse Science and Technology Law Reporter. He also received the Robert F. Koretz scholarship, awarded in recognition of excellence in the study of labor law.

Photo of Shanice Z. Smith-Banks Shanice Z. Smith-Banks

Shanice is an associate in the Labor Department. Shanice is a member of several of the firm’s Practice Groups, including Investigations, Labor Management Relations and Counseling, Training & Pay Equity. Her practice involves assisting clients in litigations, arbitrations, and administrative proceedings surrounding claims…

Shanice is an associate in the Labor Department. Shanice is a member of several of the firm’s Practice Groups, including Investigations, Labor Management Relations and Counseling, Training & Pay Equity. Her practice involves assisting clients in litigations, arbitrations, and administrative proceedings surrounding claims of unlawful discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. She has experience assisting with workplace investigations, pay equity analyses, and counseling clients on a range of employment matters. Relative to her labor relations practice, Shanice assists with representation proceedings, responding to unfair labor practice charges and counseling clients surrounding union organizing efforts and collective bargaining.

Shanice was awarded one of Proskauer’s Golden Gavel Awards in 2023 celebrating excellence in pro bono work. Shanice’s pro bono efforts focus on criminal justice and immigration work. She earned her J.D. from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, where immediately upon graduation, Shanice argued a case on behalf of the Loyola Criminal Defense Law Clinic in front of the Louisiana Supreme Court.