The Practical NLRB Advisor: Fall 2022

Ogletree Deakins’ Traditional Labor Relations Practice Group is pleased to announce the publication of the Fall 2022 issue of the Practical NLRB Advisor. In the last issue of the Advisor, we remarked that the current general counsel’s (GC) multifaceted agenda posed genuine institutional issues for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and that the pursuit of policy and precedent reversals remain a threat to the agency’s credibility. We also noted, prematurely in retrospect, that the five-member Board had, thus far, been more constrained in its decisional capacity than had the GC in her prosecutorial role.

In this issue, we discuss the two recent actions by the Board that suggest it intends to eventually tread the same path as its top prosecutor. The first is the Board’s notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) with regard to the definition of “joint employer.” The other is the agency’s second NPRM aimed at certain Board representation case policies and practices. Both proposed rules seek to overturn rules only recently established by the Trump Board.

In addition to its recent proposed rulemaking, this issue covers three recently issued decisions in which the Democratic majority on the five-member Board followed through on its anticipated intention to tilt the labor-management playing field in favor of organized labor through the reversal of extant Board law. Finally, this issue discusses the two additional memoranda in recent months that General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued—both of which align with her aggressive prosecutorial agenda.

Ogletree Deakins’ Traditional Labor Relations Practice Group will continue to monitor these and other labor law developments and will distribute the next issue of the Practical NLRB Advisor in the coming months, in addition to providing updates on the firm’s Traditional Labor Relations blog. Important information for employers is also available via the firm’s webinar and podcast programs.