Employer Labor Relations

Blog Authors

Latest from Employer Labor Relations

The End of an Era? NLRB Holds Lawful Employer’s Rules Restricting Employee Communications on Social Media, But This Pro-Employer Result May Be Short-Lived

January 13, 2021

By: Ashley K. Cano and John P. Phillips Seyfarth Synopsis: Last week, the NLRB held in a 2-1 decision that an employer’s rules restricting certain types of employee communications on social media were lawful under the NLRA. However, the Board panel was sharply divided between its Republican majority and Lauren McFerran, its sole Democratic member. In a strongly worded dissent, Member McFerran took issue with the ruling, signaling that this pro-employer stance may be on…

Employer Labor Relations

Governor Cuomo Signs Healthy Terminals Act

By Seyfarth Shaw LLP

January 8, 2021

By: Howard M. Wexler and Samuel Rubinstein Seyfarth Synopsis: On December 31, Governor Cuomo signed the Healthy Terminals Act, which among other things, grants local governments the authority to set prevailing wages and overtime rates for covered airport workers. Starting September 1, 2021, covered airport employers must pay a covered airport worker the prevailing wage, as set by the comptroller of a city. Due to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s status as…

Employer Labor Relations

Potential Path for Carriers and Employers to Enjoin Strikes over COVID-19 Issues: Court Rejects Union’s Effort to Use Safety Statute to Justify Illegal Strike

By Seyfarth Shaw LLP

January 6, 2021

By: Molly Gabel and John L. Telford Seyfarth Synopsis: Many employers have been dealing with threats of COVID-19 related work stoppages over the past several months. Whether such strike activity is subject to no-strike clauses under the National Labor Relations Act or to mandatory bargaining and dispute resolution procedures under the Railway Labor Act has been a question on unionized employers’ minds. On December 23, a federal district court answered that question affirmatively—at least under the…

Employer Labor Relations

Board Clarifies Which “Extraordinary Circumstances” Can Give Rise to Mail Ballot Elections During the COVID-19 Pandemic

By Seyfarth Shaw LLP

November 16, 2020

Authors: Glenn J. Smith and Matthew A. Sloan On April 1, 2020, after a temporary suspension of elections, the National Labor Relations Board announced that the processing of NLRB-conducted elections would resume again. Since about then, an unprecedented 90% of representation elections conducted have been ordered by Regional directors to be conducted by mail due to the pandemic. This is despite the Board’s existing precedent strongly favoring in-person ballot elections. After repeated challenges to Regional…

Employer Labor Relations

New York State Passes Healthy Terminals Act

By Seyfarth Shaw LLP

July 29, 2020

By: Molly Gabel and Samuel Rubinstein Seyfarth Synopsis: Over a year since it was introduced, the New York State Senate and Assembly recently passed the Healthy Terminals Act. The Act, among other things, gives the government the authority to set prevailing wages and overtime rates for covered airport workers. At this time, it is unclear whether Governor Cuomo will sign the Act. Introduction On July 22, 2020, after a year of sitting in committee, Senate…

Employer Labor Relations

NLRB Issues Guidance Memorandum For Conducting Manual Elections Amid The COVID-19 Pandemic

By Seyfarth Shaw LLP

July 10, 2020

By: Jason J. Silver and Glenn J. Smith Seyfarth Synopsis: As the COVID-19 virus continues to surge throughout parts of the United States, the General Counsel’s office of the NLRB has issued certain “suggested” safety protocols to allow Regions to conduct manual elections in this unprecedented environment. The suggested safety protocols are likely to receive a high level of deference from the Regions. On July 6, 2020, after discussions with Regional Directors, the NLRB Division…

Employer Labor Relations

DC Circuit Reminds the NLRB that a Weingarten Request Requires a “Request”

By Seyfarth Shaw LLP

July 7, 2020

By: Jennifer L. Mora Seyfarth Synopsis: In Circus Circus Casinos Inc. v. NLRB, No. 18-1201 (June 12, 2020), the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit denied the National Labor Relations Board’s cross-application for enforcement of its decision, where the Court found, among other things, that the Board had “significantly alter[ed] the test for valid Weingarten requests to cover the facts of this case.” The employee was a journeyman carpenter represented by the United…

Employer Labor Relations

NLRB Reinstates Decades-Long Precedent Allowing Employers to Discipline Newly Organized Employees Before a First Contract

By Seyfarth Shaw LLP

June 30, 2020

By: Jennifer L. Mora Seyfarth Synopsis: On June 23, 2020, the National Labor Relations Board reversed precedent and held in Care One at New Milford, 369 NLRB No. 109 (2020), that during negotiations for a first collective bargaining agreement, employers do not have a duty to bargain with a union over discipline for newly organized employees if the discipline is issued consistent with established disciplinary policies or practices. The decision is retroactive to any case currently pending…

Employer Labor Relations

Court Strikes Down Parts of NLRB Representation Election Rules in Eleventh-Hour Decision

By Seyfarth Shaw LLP

June 1, 2020

By: Kyllan B. Kershaw Portions of the NLRB’s expansive new representation election rules–scheduled to go into effect on May 31, 2020 following a COVID-19 related delay–were struck down by court order one day prior to becoming effective. On May 30, 2020, a judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that certain portions of the NLRB rules that were challenged by the AFL-CIO were substantive in nature and not implemented in…

Employer Labor Relations

Voided: The NLRB Adopts a Bright-Line Approach to Dual-Marked Ballots

By Seyfarth Shaw LLP

May 28, 2020

By: Bryan M. O’Keefe, Charles M. Guzak, and Samuel I. Rubinstein Seyfarth Synopsis: In a move that will provide clarity to both unions and employers, the National Labor Relations Board in Providence Health & Services – Oregon d/b/a Providence Portland Medical Center, 369 N.L.R.B. No. 78 (May 13, 2020) held that dual-marked ballots in a NLRB supervised secret ballot election should be voided in the election tally. This new standard applies retroactively. Employers…

Employer Labor Relations

Blog Authors

The End of an Era? NLRB Holds Lawful Employer’s Rules Restricting Employee Communications on Social Media, But This Pro-Employer Result May Be Short-Lived

Governor Cuomo Signs Healthy Terminals Act

Potential Path for Carriers and Employers to Enjoin Strikes over COVID-19 Issues: Court Rejects Union’s Effort to Use Safety Statute to Justify Illegal Strike

Board Clarifies Which “Extraordinary Circumstances” Can Give Rise to Mail Ballot Elections During the COVID-19 Pandemic

New York State Passes Healthy Terminals Act

NLRB Issues Guidance Memorandum For Conducting Manual Elections Amid The COVID-19 Pandemic

DC Circuit Reminds the NLRB that a Weingarten Request Requires a “Request”

NLRB Reinstates Decades-Long Precedent Allowing Employers to Discipline Newly Organized Employees Before a First Contract

Court Strikes Down Parts of NLRB Representation Election Rules in Eleventh-Hour Decision

Voided: The NLRB Adopts a Bright-Line Approach to Dual-Marked Ballots

Stay Connected

Company

Products

Support

New to the Network