Labor Relations Update

Tag Archives: Boeing

We Knew This Was Coming: NLRB General Counsel Recommends Abandoning Workplace Rule and Confidentiality Rule Frameworks

By Mark Theodore, Joshua Fox and Raymond Arroyo on Posted in Uncategorized
As foreshadowed by the NLRB General Counsel’s August 2021 Advice Memorandum (which we discussed here), the vacillating standard for the legality of employer handbooks and policies and confidentiality requirements during open employer-investigations have been ripe for reversal by the NLRB. On March 7, 2022, in response to the NLRB’s January 6, 2022 notice and invitation … Continue Reading

Here We Go Again: NLRB Foreshadows A Potential Return To Micro-Units

By Joshua Fox, Mark Theodore and Timothy Kelly on Posted in Uncategorized
The ability to form smaller bargaining units by breaking up larger aspects of an employer’s organization—sometimes called “micro-units”—is generally seen as an effort to enhance the ability of unions to gain entry into an employer by making it easier to organize.  Those opposed to the practice, including both employers and trade groups, contend that carving … Continue Reading

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

By Makenzie D. Way, Mark Theodore and Joshua Fox on Posted in Uncategorized
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 decision in The Boeing Company, 365 NLRB No. 154 (2017).  Boeing established a balancing test that takes into account the employer’s … Continue Reading

Handbook Civility Rules Aimed at Preventing Toxic Work Environments Found Lawful by NLRB’s Division of Advice

By Mark Theodore, Joshua Fox and Elizabeth Dailey on Posted in Uncategorized
The NLRB’s Division of Advice recently released a long-awaited Advice Memorandum (originally issued in February 2019, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Case 28-CA-229134 (Feb. 22, 2019)) concerning the validity of two workplace rules under the Boeing standard: (1) a rule encouraging employees to “[b]e…objective” in their communications; and (2) a rule requiring employees to notify the employer … Continue Reading

NLRB Gives Green Light to Confidentiality Provisions in Individual Arbitration Agreements

By Mark Theodore, Joshua Fox and Jacob L. Hirsch on Posted in Uncategorized
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 provision that arguably restricted an employee participating in the arbitration process from disclosing terms and conditions of employment violates the NLRA. The Board held, … Continue Reading

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

By Mark Theodore, Joshua Fox and Elizabeth Dailey on Posted in Employer policies, Handbook, NLRA, NLRB, Protected activity, Section 7, Section 8(a)(1), Uncategorized
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. The Board has struggled for years with the concept that certain commonsense employer business policies can be unlawful. It is difficult to draw bright-line rules … Continue Reading

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

By Mark Theodore, Joshua Fox and Rachel Therese Gulotta on Posted in Confidentiality, Handbook, NLRA, NLRB, Section 7
Applying the facially neutral work rule test laid out in Boeing (see here), the Board recently reversed an Administrative Law Judge decision, concluding that the employer maintained lawful workplace rules restricting employee use of (i) cell phones in commercial vehicles, (ii) the company email server for purposes not related to work, and (iii) the disclosure … Continue Reading

Busy Board Returns to Rule Permitting Workplace Confidentiality Restrictions during an Employer’s Investigation

By Mark Theodore, Joshua Fox and Dominique Kilmartin on Posted in Confidentiality, Employer policies, Investigations, NLRA, NLRB, Protected activity, Section 7, Section 8(a)(1), Witness statements, Workplace Investigations
As anticipated, in one of the last decisions before the end of Member McFerran’s term, the NLRB issued another important opinion.  Reverting back to precedent that preceded a 2015 decision, the Board, in Apogee Retail LLC d/b/a Unique Thrift Store, 368 NLRB No. 144 (2019), held that an employer’s confidentiality restrictions for information relating to … Continue Reading

Moment of Clarity? NLRB Upholds Info-Sharing and Media Contact Rules, Clarifies Boeing Standard Applicable to Employer Handbook Policies

By Mark Theodore, Joshua Fox and Austin McLeod on Posted in Employer policies, Handbook, NLRA, NLRB, Section 7, Section 8(a)(1), Section 8(a)(3)
The NLRB continues to issue decisions on a variety of interesting issues.  On October 10, the Board held, in LA Specialty Produce Co., 368 NLRB No. 93 (Oct. 10, 2019), that an employer’s strong confidentiality protections and limited media availability rules were lawful, and in so doing, clarified the analysis under the newly-issued Boeing standard, … Continue Reading

Recent ALJ Decision Provides Important Nuance Regarding Workplace No Recording Rules

By Steven Porzio on Posted in Employer policies, NLRA, NLRB, Section 7
In late 2017, the NLRB in Boeing Company, 365 NLRB No. 154 (2017), established a new three category system for classifying various employer policies. The new system was designed to balance a “work rule’s negative impact on employees’ ability to exercise their Section 7 rights and the rule’s connection to employers’ right to maintain discipline … Continue Reading

NLRB Rules Employer’s Handbook Statement That Benefit Available To “Non-Union Employees” Violates Act

By Mark Theodore on Posted in Employer policies, General Counsel, Handbook, NLRA, NLRB, Protected activity, Section 8(a)(1), Uncategorized
During the last decade, a number of NLRB decisions faulted employers for written policies that were considered to be overbroad in violation of the National Labor Relations Act.  These rulings sprang largely from the NLRB’s decision in Lutheran Heritage Village-Livonia, 343 NLRB 646 (2004), where the Board set forth a standard for evaluating the lawfulness of employer policies that … Continue Reading

NLRB SEEKS AGGRESSIVE REMEDY FOR BOEING’S ALLEGED UNLAWFUL ASSIGNMENT OF WORK

By Ronald Meisburg on Posted in Uncategorized
Following a year long investigation, the Acting General Counsel of the NLRB has issued a complaint against The Boeing Company, alleging that the company illegally assigned work to be performed on its 787 Dreamliner airplane to a non-union South Carolina facility, rather than at the the company’s Washington and Oregon facilities, where the employees are represented … Continue Reading
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