In Valley Hospital Medical Center, 371 NLRB No. 160 (Sept. 30, 2022) (Valley Hospital II), a divided National Labor Relations Board held that employers must continue to deduct union dues from employees’ pay and remit such dues to their union – a process known as “dues checkoff” – even after the expiration of
Unions
Tesla Violates Federal Labor Law with “Work Shirts” Rule
The National Labor Relations Board has held that Telsa must allow employees to wear shirts with a union insignia while on the job. The decision is certainly a learning opportunity for employers and a strong signal of the approach to these issues likely to be taken by the Biden Board. Let’s look at the facts.…
NLRB Issues Proposed Rule for Determining Joint-Employer Status
Whether two entities are “joint employers” is an important question under the National Labor Relations Act. Consider Company A, which contracts with Company B, a staffing company, to provide maintenance or other services at Company A’s facility. The maintenance workers are employed directly by Company B. While working at Company A’s facility, Company B’s employees…
Appeals Court Finds Union Can Be Liable Under RICO Statute
In an important decision for employers and unions alike, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, the federal appeals court with jurisdiction over Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, held that a union could be liable under the federal Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. The decision opens a new avenue…
NLRB’s General Counsel Issues Memo on Employee Status of Certain College Players
The General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a Guidance Memorandum last week establishing her position that certain players at academic institutions are employees as defined by National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). If collegiate athletes are protected as “employees” under the NLRA, then these athletes would have rights to organize and join…
SCOTUS Takes the Power Back: Strikes Down a California Rule Giving Union Organizers the Right to Access Employers’ Land
The U.S. Supreme Court declared unconstitutional a California regulation that required agriculture employers to give union organizers access to their premises. The Court held that by requiring employers to provide such access, the regulation amounted to an unconstitutional taking of private property in violation of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
Below,…
Why the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act) Keeps us Awake at Night
The United States House of Representatives has passed the PRO Act, which now moves to the Senate for consideration. If passed, the PRO Act would probably be the most radical, and union friendly, change to U.S. labor law since the passage of the National Labor Relations Act (Act) in 1935. And it is keeping us…
NLRB Restores Decades Old Case Law Related to Employee Discipline Prior to Negotiation of a First Contract
The National Labor Relations Board has restored a prior standard, one that had stood for about 80 years before being overturned in 2016, which governs an employer’s duty to bargain over employee discipline during the time period between when a new union is certified and a first contract is negotiated. In 800 River Road Operating…
NLRB Adopts Single Rule to Evaluate Employee Misconduct
The National Labor Relations Board has traditionally applied separate tests to evaluate whether employee discipline violated the National Labor Relations Act, depending on the context of the underlying misconduct. This has resulted in heightened protection for employee misconduct that takes place during the course of protected activity, such as strikes. However, in General Motors LLC…
NLRB Suspends Union Elections in Response to COVID-19
COVID-19’s impact on workplace matters continues to broaden. The National Labor Relations Board, which has jurisdiction over most private sector employers, announced on Thursday that all union elections within its purview are suspended for two weeks. Importantly, the suspension applies to both in-person and mail-in voting.
The Board implemented the freeze due to concerns over…