Authors: Howard M. Wexler and Samuel Sverdlov Seyfarth Synopsis: The NLRB recently published a Notice of Proposed Rule Making regarding three proposed amendments to its current rules and regulations for union elections.  These amendments consist of: (1) a change from the current election blocking charge policy to a vote-and-impound procedure; (2) a reversion to the rule of Dana Corp. with respect to voluntary recognition agreements; and (3) a modification of the evidentiary requirements for §…

By Jason Silver and Glenn Smith Seyfarth Synopsis: In a 3-1 decision, the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) in Johnson Controls, Inc., 368 NLRB No. 20 (July 3, 2019), established a new standard for determining whether a union has reacquired majority status after an employer announces its anticipatory withdrawal of recognition based on evidence indicating that the union has lost majority support. The Board’s new framework requires a secret ballot election be conducted when both…

By Ashley K. Laken and Howard Wexler Seyfarth Synopsis: Just before the end of the legislative session, lawmakers in New York introduced the “Dependent Worker Act,” which proposes to provide workers in the gig economy with certain rights, including the right to unionize. On June 14 and 15, lawmakers in the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate introduced the “Dependent Worker Act,” which would classify workers in the gig economy as…

 By: Ashley Laken Seyfarth Synopsis: The NLRB’s Division of Advice recently released an Advice Memorandum finding that a security company’s work rules were unlawfully overbroad, but that the company did not violate the National Labor Relations Act by discharging one of its employees for posting an insidious Facebook video or by filing a defamation lawsuit against two former employees. Earlier this month, the NLRB’s Division of Advice publicly released an Advice Memorandum that it had…

By Monica Rodriguez Seyfarth Synopsis: The Board narrowed the circumstances of when a successor employer will be a “perfectly clear” successor.  An employer will no longer be forced to bargain prior to setting the initial terms of employment if the employer engaged in discriminatory hiring practices as to some, but not all, of the predecessor’s former employees. In Ridgewood Health Care Center, Inc., 367 NLRB 110 (2019), the Board narrowed the scope of when an…

By: Robert Fisher, Jeffrey Berman, Skelly Harper and John Ayers-Mann  Seyfarth Synopsis: An important issue for colleges and universities is whether faculty are “managerial” employees under the National Labor Relations Act, and thus precluded from union organizing.  Almost 40 years ago, the Supreme Court held in NLRB v. Yeshiva University that faculty are managerial if they exercise “collegial” authority collectively in academic matters.  Five years ago, the Obama Board in Pacific Lutheran University…

By Tiffany Tran Seyfarth Synopsis: In another employer friendly decision, the NLRB explicitly overruled an Obama administration precedent in emphasizing the importance of entrepreneurial activity and returned to the traditional common law test to evaluate independent contractors under the NLRA. On January 25, 2019, the NLRB returned to its pre-2014, “traditional” common law test for determining the employment relationship issued in SuperShuttle DFW, Inc., 367 NLRB No. 75 (2019). SuperShuttle DFW franchisee drivers in the…