On March 24, 2023, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed into law legislation repealing Michigan’s right-to-work law for private-sector employees. The legislation had previously passed the Michigan House of Representatives on March 14, 2023, and the Michigan Senate on March 21, 2023. Both bills passed along party lines.
On March 22, 2023, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel (GC) Jennifer Abruzzo issued a memorandum clarifying the Board’s February 2023 decision that nondisparagement and confidentiality provisions in severance agreements are unlawful. In the memorandum, the GC states that she interprets the decision to apply retroactively to agreements already signed and that claims would not be time-barred as long as an employer maintains or enforces such terms.
Ogletree Deakins’ Traditional Labor Relations Practice Group is pleased to announce the publication of the Winter 2023 issue of the Practical NLRB Advisor. This issue provides an overview of a host of controversial decisions and sharply divided opinions issued by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) resulting from the mid-December 2022 departure of Republican Board member John F. Ring.
On March 8, 2023, the Michigan House of Representatives passed two bills that would repeal Michigan’s current right-to-work law. The two bills, House Bill (HB) 4004 and HB 4005, passed 56–53 along party lines. HB 4004 relates specifically to right to work in the public sector; HB 4005 relates to right to work in the private sector.
On February 23, 2023, an administrative law judge for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that a Catholic university in Florida is exempt from the Board’s jurisdiction as a religious institution. But the case tees up the test for the religious institution exemption to be overturned by the full Board—which could open up more religious educational institutions to Board jurisdiction.
On February 21, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued an important decision that may fundamentally change how and when employers use confidentiality and nondisparagement provisions.
On January 19, 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that the national union membership rate declined from 10.3 percent in 2021 to 10.1 percent in 2022.
Connecticut employers have seen a significant increase in legislation affecting their businesses over the last few years. The Connecticut General Assembly does not show any signs of slowing down. A slew of labor and employment bills have been proposed in the 2023 legislative session.
In a decision instructive to employers facing sudden, emergency conditions requiring immediate response, a divided National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Metro Man IV, LLC d/b/a Fountain Bleu Health and Rehabilitation Center, Inc., 372 NLRB No. 37 (December 28, 2022), expanded an employer’s obligation to bargain with a union in the aftermath of exigent circumstances.
On January 10, 2023, justices for the Supreme Court of the United States questioned attorneys for a ready-mix concrete company and the union representing its truck drivers over whether claims to recover the value of the company’s property destroyed as a result of a strike are preempted by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The case, Glacier Northwest, Inc. v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local Union No. 174, could provide clarity for employers on how employers can recover the value of property that is destroyed during increasingly contentious labor disputes.
In another ruling promoting a pro-labor agenda under the Biden administration, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) reverted to its pre-2019 precedent on the balance between the rights of property owners and the rights of employees under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).
Ogletree Deakins’ Traditional Labor Relations Practice Group is pleased to announce the publication of the Summer 2022 issue of the Practical NLRB Advisor. In this issue, the Advisor takes a small departure from our usual practice of providing readers a snapshot of, and insights into, the current state of U.S. labor law. Instead, this issue aims to engage the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on some of the latest issues on the labor landscape.
In a decision impacting employers that face a petition for election that seeks to represent part of the workforce, a divided National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) returned to its former Specialty Healthcare standard to apply to bargaining-unit determination cases in American Steel Construction, Inc. (372 NLRB No. 23).
Fulfilling a top priority for National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel Jennifer A. Abruzzo’s activist agenda, on December 13, 2022, the Board issued a decision that expands, arguably beyond statutory limits, the remedies recoverable by a successful charging party in unfair labor practice cases. The NLRB ruled that its make-whole remedy includes compensating employees “for all direct or foreseeable pecuniary harms suffered” as a consequence of labor violations.
A collision between the Ontario government and unionized education workers escalated into one of the most significant moments in recent Canadian labour relations history.
On November 4, 2022, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) seeking to rescind the “election protection” rule published on April 1, 2020, and to restore the prior protocols, including holding the processing of an election petition in abeyance if a union files an unfair labor practice (ULP) charge—often referred to as a “blocking charge”—alleging an employer’s interference with the election process.
Over the last decade, and arguably accelerated by the pandemic, employers have increasingly relied on new technologies to monitor, manage, and hire employees. Some of these technologies include tracking devices, keyloggers, audio recording software, and automated decision-making tools.
In a decision dated September 30, 2022, the National Labor Relations Board ruled that employers must continue to collect voluntarily authorized union dues from the paychecks of employees after the expiration of the agreement.
It has been almost two years since the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued its decision in Aspirus Keweenaw in 2020, setting forth the standards that Regional Directors use to determine the efficacy of manual-ballot elections in a post-COVID-19 world.
In a decision significant to employers that employ strike replacement employees or that may consider hiring strike replacement employees, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) found that such employees hold the right to request the presence of a union representative during an investigatory interview that may lead to discipline.
On September 6, 2022, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) unveiled a draft notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to replace its current rule, which clearly defines when two separate entities can be deemed joint employers under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), with the short-lived and much criticized standard it had articulated in its 2015 Browning-Ferris Industries decision.
Ogletree Deakins’ Traditional Labor Relations Practice Group is pleased to announce the publication of the Summer 2022 issue of the Practical NLRB Advisor. In this issue, the Advisor takes a small departure from our usual practice of providing readers a snapshot of, and insights into, the current state of U.S. labor law. Instead, this issue aims to engage the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on some of the latest issues on the labor landscape.
President Joe Biden promised during his presidential campaign to be “the most pro-union president you’ve ever seen,” so it should be no surprise that there has been an uptick in union activity before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or the “Board”).
The Connecticut legislature has been busy in 2021 and 2022. Approximately twelve months ago, it passed legislation effectively legalizing recreational marijuana under Connecticut state law. Very recently, it amended Connecticut’s employee free speech statute to, among other things, prohibit employers from convening what organized labor often refers to as “captive audience meetings” with employees to address unionization efforts. Also, effective January 1, 2022, many employees became eligible for Connecticut Paid Family and Medical Leave benefits, and the legislature amended the Connecticut Family and Medical Leave Act (CTFMLA) to apply to almost all private sector Connecticut employers.
On June 23, 2022, National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer A. Abruzzo issued Memorandum GC 22-06 advising Regions that they may seek a judgment to force employers to comply with the specific terms of settlement agreements in unfair labor practice (ULP) charges rather than a default judgment.
Recently, the Connecticut General Assembly sent Public Act No. 22-24 (Substitute Senate Bill No. 163), “An Act Protecting Employee Freedom of Speech and Conscience,” to Governor Ned Lamont’s desk for signature. If enacted, the law will amend Connecticut’s employee free speech statute, Conn. Gen. Stat. Section 31-51q, significantly limiting an employer’s ability to speak directly with its employees.
Ogletree Deakins’ Traditional Labor Relations Practice Group is pleased to announce the publication of the Spring 2022 issue of the Practical NLRB Advisor. In the last issue of the Practical NLRB Advisor we detailed the aggressive agenda of the Board’s newly minted general counsel (GC) and her apparent quest to persuade the Board to reverse or substantially modify broad swaths of extant decisional law under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).
On January 20, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that union membership in the United States had dropped to a historic all-time low. The decline in membership is prompting unions to consider strategies to replenish their depleted ranks with new dues-paying members.
On January 6, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (DOL/WHD) and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the agencies to share information, collaborate, and coordinate on investigations of potential violations of federal labor and employment laws. The MOU places particular emphasis on worker misclassification (both independent contractor and joint-employment relationships) and retaliation and represents the latest in the Biden administration’s efforts to ramp up enforcement in these areas.
Ogletree Deakins’ Traditional Labor Relations Practice Group is pleased to announce the publication of the Fall 2021 issue of the Practical NLRB Advisor. This issue offers insight into the changes in labor relations policy we have seen since President Joe Biden—who promised to be the most “pro-union” president in U.S. history—took office.
