A recent National Labor Relations Board decision is a reminder that consistency is an important factor in determining whether an employer has committed an unfair labor practice. In the case of two Kroger subsidiaries, the NLRB held that the National Labor Relations Act protects an employee’s right to wear buttons and masks in support of Black Lives Matter.
Continue Reading Consistency matters: When the employer speaks, the employees may answer
In a decision issued Feb. 21, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) set a new precedent regarding confidentiality provisions. The McLaren Macomb case involved furloughed employees that were offered a severance agreement containing non-disparagement language that prohibited them from making negative statements about the employer. The agreement also contained a confidentiality provision that prohibited the employees from discussing the terms of the agreement itself.
Continue Reading NLRB targets confidentiality provisions in severance agreements
How Constellium should inform employers’ policies and practices
Assume an employee writes the words “whore board” on company overtime sign-up sheets. Serious misconduct, right? In fact, the employer faced with this situation terminated the employee for offensive conduct.
In Constellium Rolled Products Ravenswood, LLC v. NLRB, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia agreed with a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision finding the termination was unlawful. The case illustrates that National Labor Relations Act protections sometimes can trump an employer’s right to regulate potentially offensive language at work.
Continue Reading When it comes to employee discipline, consistency is key
After years of expanding Section 7 rights during the Obama administration, the NLRB earlier this month began reining in the protection afforded to employee complaints in a 3-1 decision in Alstate Maintenance, LLC. In Alstate, a Kennedy International Airport skycap, Trevor Greenidge, refused to assist an arriving soccer team with their baggage and equipment, telling his supervisor, “We did a similar job a year prior and we didn’t receive a tip for it.” When a van carrying the team’s equipment arrived, airline managers motioned for the charging party and three co-workers to assist. Instead, they walked away and did not return until after baggage handlers from inside the airport terminal had done the bulk of the work. That evening, one of the airline managers called Alstate to complain about subpar customer service, which ultimately resulted in the termination of Greenidge and his three coworkers.
Continue Reading NLRB reverses Obama board trend on expansion Of Section 7 rights
Employers adopting social media policies have to consider whether they would be struck down by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) if challenged as invalid under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act.
Continue Reading First NLRB Decision on Employer Social Media Policies
Over the past few weeks, we have documented the NLRB’s efforts to expand worker rights through rule-making and General Counsel directives. On January 28, 2011, however, the Board went back to its traditional means of fashioning federal labor policy by issuing its decision in Parexel International, LLC., 356 NLRB No. 82 (January 28, 2011).
Continue Reading NLRB Creates Pre-emptive Strike Unfair Labor Practice