Continuing its efforts to overturn precedent, the NLRB General Counsel’s Division of Advice has issued a new advice memorandum looking to strike at the most recognizable sign of unionism in urban areas today – – the inflatable rat that is used to signal a labor dispute to the public. It has been long held by the Supreme … Continue Reading
Information requests in the realm of labor relations are simple in theory but can be complicated in practice. We have seen how the topics of information sought by a union can cause skirmishes, sometimes deliberately so. We also have seen that it almost never is a good idea for a party to just deny a request for relevant information … Continue Reading
In what could signify the beginning of the end for Purple Communications, Inc., 361 NLRB 1050 (2014) and guaranteed employee access to Employer computer systems for union organizing purposes, the NLRB issued a notice on August 1 inviting the filing of briefs on whether the Board should uphold, modify or overrule the decision. Under Purple … Continue Reading
As we noted last week, one of the more controversial Obama-Board rulings expanding joint employer liability was overruled this past week. In a widely-predicted 3-2 decision (Miscimarra, Kaplan, Emanuel), the NLRB, in Hy-Brand Industrial Contractors, Ltd., 365 NLRB No. 156 (Dec. 14, 2017), reinstated the traditional standard that had been followed for more than 30 years. Under … Continue Reading
We already know that when it comes to the NLRB there already are several actions an employer can take that violate the NLRA, even though such actions would be perfectly acceptable under any other employment law. And sometimes the actions are deemed unlawful even when they are not directly related to the NLRA. Thus, we’ve … Continue Reading
The shutdown of the federal government has reached many facets of society, including the NLRB. The agency for all intents and purposes closed within a day of the lapse in funding, with Board agents throughout the country sending e-mails and letters to parties informing them case handling had been suspended and directing everyone to the NLRB’s … Continue Reading
What a difference a year makes. Last year, we saw a blizzard of change coming from the NLRB. One could forecast what was going to happen due to the proactive nature of the agency’s public expression of its intentions, as well as its solicitation of viewpoints. It seemed every month brought some new, big change … Continue Reading
During the last several months, the NLRB has made no secret that it wants to make changes to precedent and policy. We have seen public pronouncements about ambush elections, employee rights posters, micro bargaining units, and other issues. Just because the NLRB doesn’t highlight a policy change doesn’t mean the change cannot have widespread consequences. … Continue Reading
Last year the NLRB’s order of the day was sweeping change. That brought us the employee rights poster, the ambush election rules, and micro unions. The Board today is not acting in such a bold manner, and instead is seeking gradual change through a policy of incrementalism. We saw recently how the current Board expanded … Continue Reading
A federal judge in the District of Columbia handed employers a significant partial victory in the ongoing skirmish over the NLRB’s attempts to require all employers under its jurisdiction to post a notice of employee rights. As we have noted previously, the NLRB postponed the original November 14, 2011 compliance date, only to postpone it … Continue Reading
