Notice Posting Rule Is Struck Down
Back in August 2011, the NLRB published a rule that would require private employers to post in conspicuous places a government poster intended to notify employees of their rights under the NLRA. Business groups challenged the rule, and the NLRB delayed the effective date several times. Then in early 2012, courts got into the act and struck down parts of the rule and eventually enjoined the rule until the appeals court heard and decided the case. (more…)
Confidentiality Requirements Challenged by the NLRB
Last summer, the NLRB created another stir among private employers when it found that an employer’s form used during confidential investigations of workplace issues was unlawfully broad and interfered with employee rights. We wrote about this development in our August 7, 2012 HR Insights article Confidential Investigations – Challenged by the NLRB. After that ruling, employers were left to guess as to what they could say about the confidentiality of workplace investigations in their policies and other documents. Now there is some guidance, thanks to the NLRB’s Division of Advice, which released a Memorandum on April 16, 2013, suggesting policy language that would withstand NLRB scrutiny. (more…)
Talk of Job Security Is “Inherently” Concerted and Protected
We all know by now that private employees are protected if they engage in concerted activity for their mutual aid or protection. We also know that the protections afforded employees under the NLRA can be interpreted quite broadly. The current NLRB has done just that in a case where one employee was speculating with another employee if somebody was going to be fired because a help-wanted ad for a vacant position had been posted in a local newspaper. The NLRB ruled that any talk by any employee about “job security” or possible firing was “inherently concerted” and therefore protected even if group action never happened or was never even contemplated. (more…)
NLRB Judge Rules That Clauses That Are Too Broad Are Illegal
As we have seen in the recent months, the NLRB has been very focused on the rights of employees – union and non-union – to talk about their wages, hours and working conditions whether face-to-face or on Facebook. A decision by an NLRB administrative law judge makes the point that even provisions in the employment contracts of mortgage bankers can get an employer into trouble if an employee could “reasonably believe” that the language of the contract prohibits the exercise of rights protected under the NLRA. (more…)
