Archive for the ‘Union’ Category

NLRB Loses Again – Court Vacates Employee Rights Notice Posting Rule

Authored By: Stephen W. Lyman


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…)

NLRB Protects Speculation: Is Somebody Getting Fired?

Authored By: Stephen W. Lyman


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 Attacks Employer Handbooks – Again

Authored By: Stephen W. Lyman


Confidentiality, Public Relations and Blogging Policies Held to Be Unlawful

As we reported in our Employment Law News article in January, the NLRB has been very active in challenging any employer policy that could reasonably be understood by an employee to interfere with rights protected under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”).  The NLRA protects private employees – whether or not a union is involved – in freely discussing wages, hours and working conditions and joining together for their mutual aid and protection.  Many common employer policies dealing with confidentiality, external communications and social media have been held to have been unlawfully overbroad and have been ordered to be rescinded.  Now in a new case decision by the NLRB involving DirecTV, specific language in four employer policies was found to be illegal.    (more…)

Time for Recess? The Constitution Says No

Authored By: Stephen W. Lyman


Three NLRB Members Not Valid Recess Appointments

As we predicted last year, President Obama’s three recess appointments to the NLRB faced a significant constitutional legal challenge.  On January 25, 2012, the U. S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in a unanimous opinion ruled that the president’s recess appointments to the NLRB in 2012 were unconstitutional.  This means that the normal complement of the five-member NLRB was left with just two members.  Two members are not sufficient to constitute a quorum (according to the Supreme Court), and therefore the NLRB cannot legitimately take any official action.  This decision – which will end up in the Supreme Court  for review – has far reaching consequences not only for cases arising before the NLRB but for all future  presidential recess appointments to any federal agency. (more…)

It’s Alive! Dues Checkoff Doesn’t Die with the Union Contract

Authored By: Travis P. Meek


The NLRB Overrules 50 Years of Precedent

Last month, the current NLRB once again left the labor relations world with its mouth agape when it decided that Dues Checkoff provisions will now survive the expiration of a collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”).  Nearly all CBAs have a provision that requires management to withhold from employee paychecks the amount of union dues and assessments and pay those amounts over to the union.  This provision is commonly called the Dues Check Off.  The recent decision, in WKYC-TV, Gannet Co., Inc., reversed 50 years of NLRB precedent, dating back to the Bethlehem Steel case of 1962 in which Dues Checkoff provisions were deemed to expire when the underlying CBA expired.  Now, with this decision, Dues Check Off obligations of management will live on. (more…)

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