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As Americans across the country anxiously stare at their National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Men’s Basketball brackets, the Northwestern University Wildcats are dominating the headlines in both the sports and labor law communities. In what many sports and legal commentators are calling a game-changing decision (pun intended), on Wednesday, March 26, the Regional Director for the Chicago Regional Office of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that certain players on the Northwestern University football team could seek to form a union. Perhaps more importantly, the Decision is quite expansive in its interpretation of the term “employee.”…
Continue Reading NLRB Rules That College Football Team Can Seek to Form a Union

Recently, McNees issued its annual White Paper: The National Labor Relations Board Year in Review.  Please click here to view the full White Paper. 

From the looks of it, 2013 was a very rough year for the National Labor Relations Board! Last year, we reported that the National Labor Relations Board would face some serious legal…

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently released a Letter of Interpretation authorizing employees at non-union workplaces to designate union organizers to act as their employee representative during an OSHA inspection.
Continue Reading Interpretation Letter Permits Union Organizers to Be Employee Representatives during OSHA Inspections at Non-Union Worksites

On May 7, 2013, a three-member panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit vacated the NLRB’s Notice Posting Rule, originally issued by the Board in August 2011. The Rule required that virtually all private-sector employers post a Notice to Employees, informing employees of various rights under the National Labor Relations Act (Act), such as the rights to engage in union organizing, form or join a union, and strike. The Notice also described various actions by employers or unions that would be illegal under the Act.
Continue Reading NLRB’S Notice Posting Rule Invalidated by DC Court of Appeals

As you may have heard, the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals recently sent shockwaves through the labor relations world by holding that President Obama’s "recess" appointments to the National Labor Relations Board were invalid. The court concluded that, as a result, the Board was acting without a quorum and did not have the…

We previously reported that a National Labor Relations Board Administrative Law Judge issued an interesting decision involving an employee who was discharged for posts he made on his Facebook page. In that case, the ALJ found that the employee was not discharged in violation of the National Labor Relations Act, because even though some of the employee’s Facebook posts were protected, the employee’s termination was based on only non-protected posts. Recently, the Board upheld the ALJ’s decision, providing helpful guidance to employers on the limits of the NLRA’s protections.
Continue Reading Discharge Over Facebook Posting Lawful

As readers of this blog surely are aware, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has embarked on a crusade against overbroad social media policies and handbook language. Notably, in a trio of social media reports, the NLRB’s Office of General Counsel suggested that prohibitions on offensive, demeaning, and inappropriate comments or statements that could damage the reputation of the company or its employees are unlawfully vague and could have a chilling effect on employee communications critical of the terms and conditions of their employment. Moreover, the Office of General Counsel expressed its opinion that the inclusion of a Section 7 disclaimer would not save an ambiguous policy. Recent decisions, however, signal that the NLRB has adopted a contrary position.
Continue Reading NLRB Decisions Suggest that Section 7 Disclaimer Could Save Vague Policies

The National Labor Relations Board recently issued a decision holding that an employer violates the National Labor Relations Act by establishing workplace investigation procedures, policies, or forms that attempt to prohibit employees from discussing ongoing workplace investigations with their coworkers. Specifically, the Board concluded that such a rule violates Section 7 of the NLRA, which protects employees’ rights to engage in “concerted activities” for their mutual aid and protection.
Continue Reading NLRB Decision Could Interfere With Workplace Investigations

The National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB”) Acting General Counsel (“AGC”) released yet another social media report recently (pdf), the third report in the last nine months. The report summarizes the AGC’s view on seven social media policies’ compliance with Sections 7 and 8 of the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”). This latest report, unlike the last two reports, does provide some guidance to employers on how to craft a social media policy that the AGC would deem lawful under the NLRA.
Continue Reading Three’s Company: NLRB Issues Third Social Media Policy Report

Back in December, we posted about the NLRB’s resolution to change union election procedures. Among other things, the pro-union rule shortened the time between the filing of an election petition and the date of the election, thereby making it more difficult for employers to communicate with employees prior to the vote. Following a vote on the final rule, the rule took effect on April 30, 2012. However, on May 14, 2012, the union election rule was held to be invalid.
Continue Reading NLRB’s “Quickie Election” Rule Held Invalid on Technical Grounds