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
NLRB Establishes Pathway to Holding More In-Person Manual-Ballot Elections during the COVID-19 Pandemic
As employers faced with a representation petition filed during the COVID-19 pandemic can attest, Regional Directors of the National Labor Relations Board have been incredibly reticent to hold in-person elections. Indeed, since April 1st, when the Board resumed processing representation petitions, approximately ninety percent (90%) of elections have
NLRB General Counsel Announces “Suggested” Protocols for Conducting Manual, In-Person Elections Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic
Update: Federal Judge Amends Prior Order Concerning 2019 Election Rules, Affording Deference to the NLRB, but Appeal to D.C. Circuit Remains
In late May, on the eve of the effective date of the NLRB’s sweeping changes to the election process, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia held that certain of the new rules were substantive—not procedural—in nature, and were improperly implemented without affording
NLRB Establishes Bright-Line Test Denying Jurisdiction over Religious Educational Institutions
We have seen this movie before. NLRB precedent established by the Board under the prior Administration conflicted sharply with decisions by the D.C. Circuit reviewing the Board. Then the current iteration of the Board reverses its own precedent and sides with the D.C. Circuit. This situation occurred recently with regard
Breaking: Federal Court Strikes Down New NLRB Rules on Representation Election Procedures; Implementation Delayed and Status of the Rules Uncertain
After an initial COVID-19 related delay, the sweeping new NLRB representation election rules that reversed the Obama-era “quickie” election process were about to go into effect on May 31, 2020. However, an eleventh-hour district court order struck down a significant portion of the rule as unlawfully implemented for failing to
BREAKING: NLRB Announces Representation Elections Will Resume April 6, 2020
NLRB Suspends Representation Elections through April 3, 2020 due to COVID-19 Pandemic
The NLRB announced today in a press release that “[d]ue to the extraordinary circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic,” all representation elections, including mail ballot elections, will be suspended for the next two weeks, through and including April 3, 2020. This means that any representation elections previously scheduled from