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11 Jul 2016 NLRB Ruling: Temps Can be Part of Bargaining Units

National Labor Relations Board | John Koenig

  In a move foreshadowed on this blog for some time (see posts from July 7, 2015, and Sept. 30, 2015), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) released a decision today that will make it much easier for temporary employees to be included in bargaining units.   This issue has ping-ponged back and forth over the years. For decades, the rule was that if a union petitioned to represent direct employees at a work site along…

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07 Jul 2016 NLRB Begins Collecting Employer Information to Fulfill Executive Order

Federal Laws and Legislation, National Labor Relations Board | Jackie Gessner

Co-authored by Keith Brodie and Jackie Gessner.   The Fair Places and Safe Workplaces Executive Order was issued by President Barack Obama on July 31, 2014. Like several other executive orders promulgated by the current administration, the order imposes additional labor-related obligations on federal contractors.   Employers likely haven’t heard much about this until now because federal agencies have been working to adopt regulations to implement the order. Final rules are on the horizon, but the…

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06 Jul 2016 NLRB Hits Ceiling in Continual Push to Expand Scope of Protected Concerted Activity

National Labor Relations Board | Holt Hedrick

  Whether the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is issuing rulings invalidating employee handbook policies that encourage civil behavior among employees or attempting to get discharged employees reinstated after profanity-laced Facebook rants against their supervisors, the board seems determined to push the limits of what can be considered “protected concerted activity” under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Regardless of whether an employer is a union shop or not, under the NLRA employers may not…

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27 Jun 2016 Texas Court Issues Nationwide Injunction Against DOL’s Persuader Rule

Federal Laws and Legislation | Scott Witlin

  A Texas Federal Court today issued a nationwide injunction preventing implementation of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) new persuader regulations. More details will be posted, but absent some action by the Fifth Circuit, the court’s ruling prevents the DOL from enforcing its regulation that were due to take effect on July 1.   Click here to read a Barnes & Thornburg legal alert on this topic. Scott WitlinScott J. Witlin is a partner in…

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24 Jun 2016 Summary of NLRB Decisions for Week of June 6 – 10, 2016

National Labor Relations Board | btlabor

The summary of NLRB decisions for the week of June 6 – 10 is now available.   Summarized Board Decisions   CVS Albany, LLC d/b/a CVS  (29-RC-155927; 364 NLRB No. 21)  Brooklyn, NY, June 7, 2016.   Decision on Review and Order remanding the proceeding to the Regional Director for further appropriate action.  Having carefully considered the record, the Board reversed the Regional Director and found that the challenges to the ballots of three employees…

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22 Jun 2016 EEOC Critical of NLRB’s Investigation Confidentiality Concerns

National Labor Relations Board | John Koenig

An Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) task force has released a comprehensive report on its 18-month study on the issue of harassment in the workplace. The Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace consisted of a select group of outside experts impaneled to examine harassment in the workplace and was co-chaired by two current EEOC Commissioners, Chai Feldblum and Victoria Lipnic. They recently published the “Report of the Co-Chairs of the EEOC Select…

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21 Jun 2016 Supreme Court to Decide if Presidential Appointees Can Fake It Until They Make It

National Labor Relations Board | Scott Witlin

Barely two years after the U.S. Supreme Court decided a similar issue in Noel Canning, the court has again decided to weigh into the propriety of one of President Obama’s appointees to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). NLRB v. SW General. The case involves President Obama’s appointment of Lafe Solomon as “acting general counsel” of the board at the same time the president nominated him for the general counsel (GC) position, prior to his…

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16 Jun 2016 Summary of NLRB Decisions for Week of May 23 – 27, 2016

National Labor Relations Board | btlabor

The summary of NLRB decisions for the week of May 23 – 27 is now available.   Summarized Board Decisions   Beena Beauty Holding, Inc. d/b/a Planet Beauty  (31-CA-144492; 364 NLRB No. 3)  Studio City, CA, May 23, 2016.   Applying D. R. Horton, Inc., 357 NLRB 2277 (2012), enf. denied in relevant part 737 F.3d 344 (5th Cir. 2013) and Murphy Oil USA, Inc., 361 NLRB No. 72 (2014), enf. denied in relevant part…

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15 Jun 2016 NLRB’s “Ambush Election Rules” Get Stamp of Approval from Fifth Circuit

National Labor Relations Board | David Pryzbylski

On June 10, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) controversial “ambush election rules” that went into effect in April 2015. As we have extensively covered in past posts, the new election rules have resulted in much shorter time periods between the filing of union election petitions and the elections themselves.   The Fifth Circuit’s decision was on appeal from a federal district court in Texas that had dismissed…

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10 Jun 2016 Summary of NLRB Decisions for Week of May 16 – 20, 2016

National Labor Relations Board | btlabor

The summary of NLRB decisions for the week of May 16 – 20 is now available.   Summarized Board Decisions   Boothwyn Fire Company No. 1  (04-CA-133498 and 04-CA-140365; 363 NLRB No. 191)  Boothwyn, PA, May 16, 2016.   The Board affirmed the Administrative Law Judge’s findings that the Respondent violated Section 8(a)(1) by threatening, preparing written documentation against, and eventually discharging an employee because he engaged in protected concerted activity when he joined other…

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