In Country Wide Financial Corporation, 369 NLRB No. 12 (2020), the National Labor Relations Board ruled that an mandatory arbitration agreement violated the National Labor Relations Act because it restricted an employees’ ability to file and pursue unfair labor practice charges before the Board.
Continue Reading The NLRB Rules Mandatory Arbitration Agreement As Overbroad
In Amnesty International of the USA, Inc., 368 NLRB No. 112 (2019), a number of paid staff of the nonprofit advocacy group joined a petition circulated by Amnesty’s unpaid interns, seeking compensation of their volunteer work. In response to the petition, the director of the organization made statements that she was “disappointed” that the signers of the petitioners had not availed themselves of the organization’s open door policy to discuss the matter with her and the executive team before signing the petition, and that she did not think the petition was “appropriate” as it was “litigious” and “adversarial.”
Continue Reading The NLRB Rules that Unpaid Interns Are Not Employees Under the Act
In Cordúa Restaurants, Inc., 368 NLRB No. 43 (2019), the National Labor Relations Board issued its first major decision following the Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling in Epic Systems, addressing a number of issues of first impression and providing guidance on the permissible scope and implementation of class action waivers.
Continue Reading The NLRB Issues Major Class Action Waiver/Mandatory Arbitration Ruling
In Johnson Controls, Inc., 368 NLRB No. 20 (July 3, 2019), the NLRB adopted a new framework for determining a union’s representative status once an employer has made a lawful anticipatory withdrawal of recognition based on disaffection evidence that the union has lost its majority status. Specifically, under Johnson Controls, a union seeking to demonstrate that it has reacquired majority status must do so in a secret ballot election conducted by the Board, rather than in an unfair labor practice proceeding.
Continue Reading NLRB Adopts New Framework in Cases of Employer Withdrawal of Union Recognition
The Board’s recent decision in Merck, Sharp, & Dohme Corp., 367 NLRB No. 122 (May 7, 2019) highlights the differences that can arise as a result of the collective bargaining process in the terms and conditions of employment for employers with a divided workforce of non-union and union-represented employees. In Merck, the Board majority reversed the Administrative Law Judge’s ruling that the employer had violated Section 8(a)(3) and (1) by offering a new, one-time paid holiday, “Appreciation Day” to all of its non-union employees to the exclusion of its union-represented employees.
Continue Reading NLRB Rules That Employer’s Exclusion of Union Employees From Paid Holiday Granted to Non-Union Employees is Lawful
As anticipated and previously reported, the Republican-controlled Board is overturning Obama-era rulings. For example, in a recent decision, SuperShuttle Inc. DFW, Inc. (16-RC-010963), the National Labor Relations Board affirmed the Board’s adherence to the traditional common-law agency test. This decision overrules the NLRB’s 2014 Decision, FedEx Home Delivery, 361 NLRB No. 65, which had modified the NLRB’s long-standing test for independent contractor status.
Continue Reading NLRB Returns To The Traditional Common-Law Agency Test for Independent Contractors
On April 16, newly confirmed member John Ring was sworn in as the fifth member and Chairman of the National Labor Relations Board, establishing a Republican-controlled Board. While all has been relatively quiet with regard to rulings from the Board, we will likely see a rise in activity now that the NLRB (with a newly-minted majority) is poised to roll back some of the Obama-era rulings.
Continue Reading Republican-Controlled NLRB is Poised to Review Obama-era Rulings