Still hard at work as we head into mid-September, the National Labor Relations Board, in a 3-1 decision (Chairman Ring and Members Kaplan and Emanuel in the majority, Member McFerran dissenting) announced a three-step test which clarifies how petitioned-for partial workforce units are analyzed under the traditional community of interest factors. In 2017, the Board … Continue Reading
On February 4, the NLRB granted United Federation of Teachers, Local 2, AFT, AFL-CIO’s (the “Union”) request for review of the Regional Director’s Decision and Direction of Election concerning a decertification petition filed by several teachers at a charter school. In so doing, the Board invited filing of briefs regarding whether the Board should decline … Continue Reading
The National Labor Relations Board announced that it will publish a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking today, September 14, regarding its joint-employer standard. The proposed rule will state that an employer may be considered a joint-employer of another employer’s employees only if it possesses and exercises substantial, direct and immediate control over the essential terms and … Continue Reading
Adding to the list of falling precedents in the waning days of Chairman Miscimarra’s term, on Friday, the NLRB reversed another of the seminal decisions of the Obama-Board when it overruled the highly controversial Specialty Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center of Mobile, 357 NLRB 934 (2011) decision. The 3-2 decision in PCC Structurals, Inc., 365 NLRB … Continue Reading
Change is coming. We noted recently that the administration is thinking about changing the newly adopted persuader regulations. We also know that a majority of make-up of the NLRB is likely to shift very soon, and with it some of the precedents of the last few years will be reversed. Newly appointed Chairman Miscimarra seems to be reiterating what … Continue Reading
Of all the changes to the law the NLRB has made in the last several years, the most significant involve how the agency determines bargaining units. For example, the NLRB’s decision in Specialty Healthcare drastically altered the manner in which bargaining units were determined by the Regional Directors and the NLRB. Also, the NLRB’s ambush election rules also … Continue Reading
Returning to a decision it made 16 years ago (but was overturned just 4 years after that), the National Labor Relations Board has once again ruled that it will certify a bargaining unit containing individuals from two or more separate employers without those employers’ consent. In Miller & Anderson, Inc., Case 05–RC–079249 (July 11, 2016), … Continue Reading
For thirty-two years, it has been a settled proposition that an employer may, upon the expiration of a contract, refuse to continue to negotiate with a “mixed-guard” union that represents its security guards. Continuing its long path of upsetting established precedent, on June 9, 2016, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) reversed this … Continue Reading
On March 26, 2014, Peter Sung Ohr, the Chicago Regional Director of the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) ruled that members of the Northwestern University football team receiving athletic scholarships are employees, and not students, under the National Labor Relations Act, allowing them the opportunity to unionize through an NLRB election. First and Ten: A … Continue Reading
In the first judicial challenge to the NLRB’s Specialty Healthcare decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has upheld the Board. In Specialty Healthcare the Board held that it will find a petitioned for unit appropriate where the unit is made up of (i) an identifiable group of employees (ii) who share a community of interest with … Continue Reading
One of the NLRB’s most sweeping decisions in decades, Specialty Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center of Mobile, 357 NLRB No. 83 (August 26, 2011).pdf, has reached a federal appeals court, as the employer seeks to have the decision overturned. As we have previously discussed, the Board in this case established the micro union standard, where the bargaining unit sought by a … Continue Reading
It’s been a quiet few weeks for the NLRB. Since January 1, the NLRB has issued only a small number of decisions, none of which appear to be noteworthy. There are, of course, many developments that are in process. For example, we still do not know the full effect of the NLRB’s decision in Specialty … Continue Reading
As 2011 came to a close, no one was certain whether the NLRB would continue to function into 2012 as Member Becker’s recess appointment came to an end, leaving only two Members. In those waning days, the NLRB issued a remarkable decision in DTG Operations, Inc., 357 NLRB No. 175 (December 30, 2011) applying its decision … Continue Reading
As we reported earlier, the NLRB announced it was ready to vote on some proposed amendments to the rules concerning representation elections. There was no indication in the original announcement of about the substance of the changes. On November 29, 2011, NLRB Chairman Mark Pierce disclosed more information in the form of a Board Resolution. … Continue Reading
What a difference a few months can make. Last December, in Specialty Healtcare and Rehabilitation of Mobile the NLRB invited interested parties to file briefs to consider a number of questions about whether it should consider adopting a new “one size fits all” rule for bargaining units in nursing homes (called “nonacute care” facilities). The case … Continue Reading