Articles and Blogs

Talk of Job Security Is “Inherently” Concerted and Protected We all know by now that private employees are protected if they engage in concerted activity for their mutual aid or protection.  We also know that the protections afforded employees under the NLRA can be interpreted quite broadly.  The current NLRB has done just that... READ MORE

Confidentiality, Public Relations and Blogging Policies Held to Be Unlawful As we reported in our Employment Law News article in January, the NLRB has been very active in challenging any employer policy that could reasonably be understood by an employee to interfere with rights protected under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”).  The NLRA... READ MORE

Three NLRB Members Not Valid Recess Appointments As we predicted last year, President Obama’s three recess appointments to the NLRB faced a significant constitutional legal challenge.  On January 25, 2012, the U. S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in a unanimous opinion ruled that the president’s recess appointments to the NLRB in... READ MORE

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

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

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

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

In an interesting display of seeming uncertainty, the NLRB’s Division of Advice recommended the dismissal of an unfair labor practice charge against an employer.  In this case, a union alleged that an employer unlawfully threatened its employees over a flyer containing statements that the worksite was contaminated with toxic, unhealthy chemicals.  In an effort to... READ MORE

Good news for private employers.  Today, May 14, 2012 the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the NLRB lacked a quorum when it took a final vote to issue it’s hotly debated “Quickie Election Rule”.  Consequently, the Rule that would have had the effect of drastically speeding up union... READ MORE