Update: On March 8, 2024, the Eastern District of Texas granted summary judgment in favor of the Chamber of Commerce and struck down the NLRB’s new final joint employer rule. The opinion conducts a thorough review of the history of the joint employer standard and ultimately concludes that the Final Rule is contrary to the common law.
Continue Reading Judge Strikes Down NLRB’s Final Joint Employer Rule

The NRLB has hit another roadblock in its implementation of a new final joint employer rule (the “Final Rule”) as a Texas federal judge delayed its implementation until March 11. The Final Rule, which was supposed to take effect on February 26, would have made organizations liable for violations of the NLRA if they had direct or indirect control over the terms and conditions of employment of another firm’s employees. This change increases the potential of liability from franchising or contracting with third parties. To see more information on the implications of the Final Rule, see our previous articles here and here.Continue Reading NLRB’s Final Joint Employer Rule Stayed Amid Legal Challenges

In an historic development for the financial services industry, a group of employees at a Wells Fargo branch bank in Albuquerque, New Mexico voted this week to join Wells Fargo Workers United, a grassroots labor union backed by the Communications Workers of America. The successful vote marks the first time in memory that employees at a major U.S. bank have elected to unionize. Workers at Wells Fargo branches in California and Florida have also filed for union elections in the past month alone.
Continue Reading Wells Fargo Retail Branch Employees Vote to Join Union

This fall, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) published its case processing data for Fiscal Year 2023 (FY2023) – revealing a significant uptick in Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) Charge filings and union petitions since FY2022. Specifically, the NLRB saw a 10% increase in ULP Charges filed since FY2022. This year over year increase is significant, as there was a 19% increase in ULP Charges in FY2022 itself. The agency received just 15,082 ULP Charges in FY2021 while in FY2023, employees filed nearly 20,000 ULP Charges. This surge in ULP Charges during the last few years illustrates the increased scrutiny on employers’ compliance with the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).
Continue Reading Employers Beware: Recent Surge in ULP Charge Filings, Union Election Petitions, and RM Petitions

Several prominent business groups filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court of the United States on July 24 urging the Court to reform its standard on agency deference and highlighting the unpredictability caused by the National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB”) current application of the lenient standard.
Continue Reading Business Groups Tap Hunton for Amicus Filing in Supreme Court Agency Deference Case

The National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB or the “Board”) Office of General Counsel (“GC”) released an internal advice memorandum on February 27, 2023, which indicates that the NLRB will seek to enforce the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA or the “Act”) against employers that allegedly retaliate against employees for having workplace discussions about racism. The memorandum—which concerned employment actions the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine, Inc. (the “Tyson Medical School”) took with respect to a faculty member/physician following various discussions about race in the workplace—sets forth an expansive interpretation of conduct that constitutes protected concerted activity under Section 7 of the Act so as to include general discussions “working to end systemic racism, including its impact at the [e]mployer.”
Continue Reading The National Labor Relations Board Seeks to Regulate Discussions of Race in the Workplace

Dozens of business groups submitted comments on December 7 to oppose the National Labor Relations Board’s proposed joint employer rule, arguing it would interfere with business-to-business contracting and needlessly entangle companies in collective bargaining negotiations related to employees they do not control.
Continue Reading Business Groups Oppose NLRB’s Proposed Far-Reaching Joint Employer Rule

Yesterday, the National Labor Relations Board (“Board” or “NLRB”) in American Steel Construction, Inc., 372 NLRB No. 23 (2022) decided that employers must meet a heightened burden to expand a voting unit sought by a union in a union election. The decision is a significant development because it makes it easier for unions to organize workforces. And it marks yet another reversal of precedent by the Board to the benefit of unions. (We’ve discussed prior reversals here and here.)Continue Reading NLRB Reinstates “Micro Unit” Standard Making it Easier for Unions to Cherry Pick Voting Units

On Monday, October 31, National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued GC Memo 23-02, “Electronic Monitoring and Algorithmic Management of Employees Interfering with the Exercise of Section 7 Rights.” Specifically, the Memo seeks to address the growing employer use of “a diverse set of technological tools and techniques to remotely manage workforces.” Examples of these technologies include wearable devices, security cameras, GPS tracking devices, keyloggers, and audio recordings.
Continue Reading NLRB GC To Urge Board to Regulate Electronic Worker Monitoring and Management