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In a predictable shift toward employer-friendly standards, the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) has reinstated a standard that gives employers greater latitude in determining whether an employee’s abusive conduct during union or other protected activity loses legal protection under the National Labor Relations Act (the “Act”).

This is the first of what is expected to…

On August 26, 2026, General Counsel for the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) Crystal S. Carey issued Memorandum GC 26-04, signaling that many of the employee-friendly precedents adopted during the Biden years are squarely in the crosshairs.

While a GC memo does not change the law, it is a reliable indicator for where Board doctrine…

On his second day in office, January 21, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity.”  This Executive Order reverses roughly 60 years of federal policy and leaves many employers with questions about the future of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies and affirmative action programs (AAPs).  Federal contractors…

Since August 2021, three of the five members of the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) have been appointed by Democratic presidents, including two members appointed by President Biden. Earlier this year, the Democratic majority announced in Stericyle, Inc., 371 NLRB No. 48 (Jan. 6, 2022), that it was requesting briefing on whether…

As expected, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has repealed the Trump-era rule regarding classification of independent contractors.  As we discussed here, the Trump-era rule codified the “economic realities test” for use when analyzing whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Labor advocates criticized…

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed the Protecting the Right to Organize (“PRO”) Act, which would make sweeping union-friendly changes to the three primary federal laws that govern private-sector labor relations: the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”), the Labor Management Relations Act, and the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959. …

In case you missed it (did anyone miss it?), President Joe Biden was sworn into office yesterday.  Although workplace issues are hardly the only pressing item on the new President’s agenda, employers should be prepared for the rollout of additional employee protections under the Biden administration.

Priorities That President Biden Has Already Announced

Extending and …

Through a series of decisions issued in late 2019, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) has signaled a return to common sense in its approach to the rules governing labor relations.  Here are a few of the Board’s decisions that are of interest to employers.

Employers May Require Employees to Maintain Confidentiality in…

In yet another significant victory for employers, the United States Supreme Court has held that the First Amendment prohibits public sector unions from collecting mandatory “agency fees” from non-union members who do not consent to the payment of fees.  The Court’s ruling in Janus v. AFSCME, Council 31 overturns prior precedent that allowed public sector unions to collect these mandatory fees from employees who choose not to be a part of the union.
Continue Reading Supreme Court Rules Mandatory Union Fees for Public Sector Employees are Unconstitutional

It might appear that in some years, the National Labor Relations Board (the Board) issues a series of decisions just as the year comes to a close, but it is not because the Board wants to give out holiday presents (or, from the employer’s perspective for the past several years, multiple lumps of coal).  Rather…