Philip B. RosenBlog Posts
NLRB Overrules Purple CommunicationsOverruling Purple Communications, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has held that employees do not have a right under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to use employer equipment, including email and other IT systems, for Section 7 purposes. Caesars Entertainment d/b/a/ Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino, 368 NLRB No. 143 (Dec. 17, 2019). The... Continue ReadingDecember 17, 2019 |
NLRB: Employer’s Obligation to Deduct Union Dues Ends When CBA EndsThe National Labor Relations Board has held that an employer’s obligation to deduct union dues ends when the collective bargaining agreement containing the checkoff provision expires. Valley Hospital Medical Center, Inc. d/b/a Valley Hospital Medical Center, 368 NLRB No. 139 (Dec. 16, 2019). The NLRB overruled Lincoln Lutheran of Racine, 362 NLRB 1655 (2015), in... Continue ReadingDecember 16, 2019 |
NLRB Announces Broad Modifications to 2014 ‘Quickie Election’ RuleThe NLRB has announced long-awaited major modifications to its controversial 2014 election rule. The draft rule will be published on December 18 and will go into effect 120 days after that, on April 16, 2020. Critics of the so-called Quickie Election Rule are bound to view this as good news. The Board characterizes this draft... Continue ReadingDecember 13, 2019 |
NLRB Allows Decertification Process to Proceed During Certification Year Extension PeriodThe National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled an employee’s effort to decertify his union could proceed, despite a previous agreement between the employer and union extending the time during which decertification petitions are barred. Pinnacle Foods, 368 NLRB No. 97 (Oct. 21, 2019). An employee filed a petition to decertify his union after the expiration of the “certification year,” the... Continue ReadingDecember 6, 2019 |
Employee Advocacy for Nonemployee, Unpaid Interns Is Not Protected by National Labor Relations ActUnpaid interns are not “employees” as defined by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), and employee advocacy on their behalf is not protected concerted activity under Section 7 of the NLRA, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled. Amnesty International of the USA, Inc., 368 NLRB No. 112 (Nov. 12, 2019). The NLRB also... Continue ReadingDecember 3, 2019 |
Board Revisits Recusal RulesThe National Labor Relations Board has issued its “Ethics Recusal Report,” which announces several process changes that may add new wrinkles to practice before the Board. Much of the Report, dated November 19, 2019, is minutiae and insider information regarding existing methods of identifying ethical conflicts. In 2018, the NLRB faced a high-profile ethical crisis.... Continue ReadingNovember 25, 2019 |
Seventh Circuit Declines to Award Damages to Victorious Janus PlaintiffAn employee who paid “fair share” union fees under protest is not entitled to damages to refund any of the money he paid the union, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has held. Janus v. Am. Fed’n of State, No. 19-1553 (Nov. 4, 2019). The Court explained fair share fees were “an... Continue ReadingNovember 20, 2019 |
NLRB Advice Memo: Lack of Coworker Support Does Not Render Pay Complaints UnprotectedAn employee’s complaints about his pay to coworkers was protected concerted activity under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), even though the employee was unsuccessful in enlisting any other employees to support his complaints, the Advice Division of the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) Office of the General Counsel has decided. Therefore, the NLRB found... Continue ReadingNovember 15, 2019 |
‘Vague’ Savings Clause Insufficient to Save Arbitration Agreement Limiting Employees’ Access to NLRBAn arbitration agreement requiring that all “claims or controversies in any way relating to or associated with … employment or the termination of … employment … will be resolved exclusively by binding arbitration,” including “all statutory… claims” violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled. The Board, applying... Continue ReadingNovember 11, 2019 |
Labor Board: Unions Waived Right to Bargain Over Changes to Retiree Medical BenefitsThe National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has held that an employer did not violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) when it unilaterally changed retirees’ medical benefits without first negotiating with the unions that represented its employees. E.I. Du Pont De Nemours and Co., 368 NLRB No. 48 (Sept. 4, 2019). The NLRB found the... Continue ReadingOctober 15, 2019 |