Articles and Blogs

The NLRB Overrules 50 Years of Precedent Last month, the current NLRB once again left the labor relations world with its mouth agape when it decided that Dues Checkoff provisions will now survive the expiration of a collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”).  Nearly all CBAs have a provision that requires management to withhold from employee... READ MORE

NLRB Judge Rules That Clauses That Are Too Broad Are Illegal As we have seen in the recent months, the NLRB has been very focused on the rights of employees – union and non-union – to talk about their wages, hours and working conditions whether face-to-face or on Facebook.  A decision by an NLRB administrative law... READ MORE

Michigan Joins Indiana in “Right-to-Work” In less than twelve months, two Midwestern states long known for their unionized workforces have passed legislation that prevents agreements requiring union membership and the payment of union dues as a condition of employment.  First, on February 1, 2012, Governor Mitch Daniels signed Indiana’s “Right-to-Work” bill into law to... READ MORE

Employer’s Social Media Policy and Savings Clause Are Okay For the past two years, private employers have been struggling to understand just what the NLRB expects of them when it comes to Social Media Policies (among other things – confidential investigations; employment-at-will; off-duty access).  The NLRB General Counsel has even issued three separate Memos... READ MORE

The NLRB Offers Some Advice The NLRB Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon today (October 31, 2012) released an analysis of at-will employment clauses in two employee handbooks, finding that both are lawful under the National Labor Relations Act.  This analysis, contained in two separate Advice Memoranda, will help guide employers in determining whether their... READ MORE

NLRB Adopts ALJ Decision Finding Employer “Courtesy” Policy to Be Unlawful Last Fall, an Administrative Law Judge for the NLRB issued one of the first opinions addressing social media in the workplace.  The ALJ’s decision addressed two separate social media issues in what you may recall as the “hot dog cart” case or the... READ MORE

Who Is a Supervisor? – The NLRB Gets It Wrong If a person is a “supervisor” then that person is considered management, and under the NLRA that supervisor cannot be part of a union bargaining unit.  Deciding who is a supervisor can have significant consequences for employers – especially when it comes to union... READ MORE

Does this sound like a good and reasonable thing to say to an employee who has brought a complaint to your attention? “Please keep our discussions confidential while our investigation is ongoing.” Well, it may not be so good or reasonable according to the NLRB.  Employers faced with suspected employee misconduct have an obligation – in... READ MORE

Virtually all employers that have an Employee Handbook also have an acknowledgement of receipt of the Handbook.  It is very common in the acknowledgement for an employer to clearly spell out the fact that the employee is an “Employee-At-Will”.  Now this common employer practice is being challenged by the NLRB. Do Handbook Acknowledgements Violate the Law?... READ MORE

“Quickie Election Rule” – NLRB Loses Round 2 The NLRB has lost another round in the battle over its so-called “Quickie Election Rule.”  The federal court that on May 14, 2012 put a halt to the NLRB’s rule that would have speeded up union elections in the private sector (see our Employment Law News Article) rebuffed... READ MORE