Depending on your allegiance, “the Play” was one of either the most memorable or the most infamous moments in the history of college football. It happened in the final seconds of 1982’s annual “Big Game” between the Stanford Cardinal and U.C. Berkeley’s Golden Bears. As the fourth quarter was winding down, the Bears had taken a 19-17 lead over the Cardinal, but Stanford quarterback John Elway would have none of it: he overcame a dire 4th-and-17 and drove the Cardinal into field goal range. The field goal was good, giving Stanford a 20-19 lead with just seconds left in the game. As Stanford prepared to kick off, Cal announcer Joe Starkey observed, presciently, that “only a miracle can save the Bears now!”
Continue Reading Northwestern University Football Players Can’t Vote for Union Representation …but it’s not over until it’s over…
NLRB Says “Mere Maintenance” of Employee Handbook Rules May Violate the NLRA
In recent years the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has aggressively sought to emphasize that its reach extends beyond solely unionized workforces. On March 18, 2015, NLRB General Counsel Richard Griffin released a 30-page report that provides labor lawyers and HR professionals guidance on what the General Counsel contends is – and is not – a lawful employee handbook rule under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The General Counsel’s report makes clear just how broadly the Board applies its rules, finding fault in a number of common-sense workplace practices regarding confidentiality, criticism of the company, misconduct, communication with the public or the media, conflicts of interest, and a variety of other topics. Non-union employers may be asking, “Why do I care?” But the NLRA applies to every employer (at least those engaged in “interstate commerce,” which is almost everyone).
Virtually anyone – individual employees, union organizers or other non-employees – can (and does) file Board complaints, and one of the first things the NLRB’s investigator will ask you for is your policies. Even if the investigator concludes the charge is without merit, if you are “maintaining” overly broad policies, you may have a fight with the NLRB on your hands – and at the very least you will face a demand to modify the policy and post a notice informing employees of your transgression and your commitment to upholding employee rights to participate in protected, concerted activity. If you’ve got a union lurking (or campaigning), that’s like free (and forced) advertising, telling employees why they need a union.
We’ve written about the NLRB’s scrutiny of employer rules on social media use and off-duty access, but this report is a “one stop shopping” trip for purposes of NLRA compliance. The report (available here) provides real-life examples of allegedly unlawful and lawful policies and the reasoning behind the decisions. And it provides (starting at page 26) what some might view as “model” policies prepared by Wendy’s International LLC and the NLRB pursuant to a Board settlement agreement. You may not like – or decide to adopt – the stance that the General Counsel has taken on these policies, but at least you (sort of) know his position on many handbook policies.
Continue Reading NLRB Says “Mere Maintenance” of Employee Handbook Rules May Violate the NLRA
NLRB Final Rule: “Quickie” Elections are Now Reality
As anticipated, on December 12, 2014 the NLRB announced that the final “Quickie” Election Rule will be published in the Federal Register on December 15, 2014 and will take effect on April 14, 2015. Among other changes, the rule will shorten the time between the filing of a petition and the election for union representation
NLRB Reverses Sodexo Off Duty Access Decision – a Crack in the Door After Noel Canning…Or Not?
Employers often maintain policies prohibiting off-duty employees from accessing their facilities. The NLRB has maintained its “Tri-County Medical” rule for nearly 40 years: an employer’s rule barring off-duty employee access to a facility is valid only if it (1) limits access solely to the interior of the facility, (2) is clearly disseminated to all employees, and (3) applies to off-duty access for all purposes, not just for union activity. In two recent decisions, the Board interpreted the third prong of Tri-County Medical to significantly limit employers’ ability to prohibit off-duty access by employees.
In St. John’s Health Center, 357 NLRB No. 170 (2011), the Board invalidated a hospital’s policy that permitted employees to come onto hospital property “to attend Health center sponsored events, such as retirement parties and baby showers.” And in Sodexo, 358 NLRB No. 79 (2012), the Board invalidated a hospital’s rule that permitted off-duty employees access for “hospital related business,” which was defined as “the pursuit of the employee’s normal duties or duties as specifically directed by management.” The 2012 Board majority disallowed this rule because it gave the hospital “free rein to set the terms of off-duty employee access.” Former Member Hayes dissented in both decisions, stating that, under the majority view, an employer cannot maintain a valid off-duty access policy if it permits activities “as innocuous as allowing employees to pick up paychecks or complete employment-related paperwork.”
Facebook “Like” Button – Protected Activity? It Depends on What You “Like”!
In an ever expanding arc of decisions that extends the NLRA’s protections to a wide range of employee conduct – both on-and off-duty, and in union and non-union settings alike – the NLRB last week decided that merely clicking on Facebook’s “Like” Button was concerted, protected activity. Triple Play Sports Bar, 361 NLRB No. 31 (August 22, 2014).
Triple Play Sports Bar is a non-union employer whose owners had a little difficulty preparing annual payroll tax calculations, and as a result, employees owed state income tax in arrears. One of the employees – not happy at the prospect of back taxes – posted on her Facebook “Status Update,”
Maybe someone should do the owners of Triple Play a favor and buy it from them. They can’t even do the tax paperwork correctly‼! Now I OWE money … Wtf‼!
Other employees chimed in with comments of their own (“[the owner] f***** up the paperwork…as per usual”; “[the owner is] such a shady little man. He prolly [sic] pocketed it all from our paychecks…”; “Such an a******”), as did a couple of the Sport’s Bar’s customers. But one employee simply pressed the “Like” button and made no other comments. Company owners terminated the employees for defamation and disloyalty.
Continue Reading Facebook “Like” Button – Protected Activity? It Depends on What You “Like”!
College Football Players Are Employees? Who’s Next?
The NLRB’s Regional Director in Chicago issued a decision on March 26 in 13-RC-121359 finding the football players at Northwestern University are employees under the NLRA, over the objections of the University. The Regional Director rejected the University’s arguments that the players, who receive “grant-in-aid scholarships” from the University, are more akin to graduate students, held by the Board not to be employees in Brown University, 342 NLRB 483 (2004). The Director also rejected the University’s argument that the players were “temporary employees” who were not eligible for collective bargaining.
Northwestern’s varsity football team consists of 112 players, 85 of whom receive scholarships that pay for their tuition, fees, room, board, and books in the amount of $61,000 per year ($76,000 per year if they take summer classes). The players receive a “tender” letter at the beginning of their football career that describes the terms and conditions of the offer; are subject to certain rules of conduct; and spend 20-25 hours a week in mandatory activities in the off-season, 40-50 hours per week during the season, and 50-60 hours per week during training camp. The Director found that the players performed “services” for the University that generated revenues of approximately $235 million during the nine-year period of 2003-2012 through the team’s participation in the NCAA Division I and Big Ten Conference through ticket sales, television contracts, merchandise sales, and licensing agreements.
Continue Reading College Football Players Are Employees? Who’s Next?
NLRB Re-Issues Controversial “Quickie” Union Election Rule
On February 5, 2014, the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB") re-issued its controversial “quickie” election rule. As you may recall, that rule, which was opposed by employer groups, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and others, was invalidated by the D.C. District Court in May 2012. The reissued "quickie" election rule would substantially shorten the time between the filing of a petition and the election to determine whether the union will represent employees–from approximately 42 days to as little as 10 to 14 days.
The D.C. District court struck down the rule in 2012 for procedural reasons. The Board initially issued the rule in 2011, but its implementation was stayed as a result of a decision of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, which held that the rule had been improperly adopted with only two Board member votes, rather than statutorily required three Board member votes, under the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 2010 decision in New Process Steel. Since July 2013, however, when the U.S. Senate confirmed President Obama’s new appointees, the Board has operated with a full five members for the first time since 2007.
How The "Quickie" Election Rule Would Change Union Elections
Under the current approach, unions must gather authorization cards from at least 30 percent of employees in the unit sought to be represented in order to file a petition for an election with the NLRB. Sometimes employers know about the organizing drive before the petition is filed, but sometimes, they do not. During the pendency of the election (which is currently about 40 days), employers have an opportunity to “campaign” against unionization by providing employees with information about the union, its tactics, and the costs and disadvantages of joining a union. Once the employees vote in the election and the union is certified, the employees may not seek to decertify the union for at least a year, or until after the expiration of the first collective bargaining agreement, whichever is longer.
Continue Reading NLRB Re-Issues Controversial “Quickie” Union Election Rule
NLRB Effectively Scraps Plans (For Now) To Pursue Notice Posting Rule By Deciding Not To Seek Review By U.S. Supreme Court
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has suffered a series of setbacks recently at the hands of federal judges. In December, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals largely struck down the NLRB’s prohibition on class action waivers in arbitration agreements. Now, on January 6, 2014, the NLRB announced that it won’t seek Supreme Court review of two U.S. Court of Appeals decisions invalidating its Notice Posting Rule, which would have required most private sector employers to post a notice informing employees of their right to organize. The deadline for seeking Supreme Court review passed January 2.
The legal effect of this “non-event” is that it allows to stand two appellate court decisions that invalidated NLRB’s 2011 adoption of a rule. In May 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit held in National Ass’n of Manufacturers v. NLRB, 717 F.3d 947 (D.C. Cir. 2013) that requiring employers to post the statement of rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) would be inconsistent with Section 8(c) of the act, which essentially gives employers the right to speak freely to their employees so long as the communications aren’t coercive. The Court also held that NLRB lacked authority to promulgate the regulation, because it would have effectively modified the federal statutory time limit for filing unfair labor practice charges. A month later, the Fourth Circuit ruled against the NLRB and sustained a second challenge to the regulation in Chamber of Commerce v. NLRB, 721 F.3d 152 (4th Cir. 2013).