On average, it takes well over a year for an employer and a newly certified labor union to reach agreement on a first contract. Nonetheless, operationalizing the proposed truncated timelines will often prove difficult, and result in significant burden on employers. In this dynamic time of change at the NLRB and in federal labor law, it is essential that employers stay mindful and up-to-date on the changes and what they might ultimately mean for their businesses.
Tag: NLRA
NLRB: Noncompete and Employee Nonsolicitation Agreements Violate Covered Employees’ Section 7 Rights Under NLRA
J.O. Mory, Inc. represents a continuation of the Board’s attack on noncompetition agreements and a notable expansion to now target nonsolicitation covenants. Employers should take particular care to review the language of nonsolicitation agreements with covered employees to ensure that they are not likely to be construed to chill employees’ — and former employees’ — engagement in protected activity.
To view the full alert, visit the Faegre Drinker website.
Retail Employers and the National Labor Relations Act
Our latest briefing dives into new local laws about AI and how it affects both employment and insurance industries, the launch of NIST’s Trustworthy & Responsible Artificial Intelligence Resource Center and the plans for it moving forward, new guidance from the FDA on cybersecurity and on artificial intelligence/machine-learning frameworks, and the Coalition for Health AI’s quality assurance standards for use of AI in the health care and related industries.
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NLRB General Counsel Issues Guidance on Severance Agreement Restrictions
On March 22, 2023, the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or the Board), Jennifer Abruzzo, issued guidance about the Board’s McLaren Macomb decision from earlier this year. The guidance made clear that the General Counsel will, when given the opportunity, prosecute a case before the Board to have the NLRB invalidate provisions in severance agreements that attempt to restrict the rights of departing employees to engage in activity protected by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The General Counsel also emphasized her view of the retroactive application of the decision, noting that employers attempting to enforce old severance agreements will face new unfair labor practice liability even if the statute of limitations has run since the execution of the now-unlawful agreement. Although the General Counsel’s memorandum is not law, employers should pay close attention as the guidance indicates the position the General Counsel will take in prosecuting allegedly unlawful severance agreements.
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NLRB: Severance Pay Cannot Include Condition to Waive Rights Under NLRA
The decision of the National Labor Relations Board (the Board) in McLaren Macomb, 372 NLRB No. 58 ( Feb. 21, 2023), reinstates a limit on the confidentiality, non-disclosure, and non-disparagement clauses that employers may include in severance agreements with most of their lower-level employees. While the Board bills its decision as a return to the standard applied in earlier cases, this decision suggests that the Board will take a broader view of how such agreements infringe on employees’ rights under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act.
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NLRB Finds Secret Workplace Recordings to Be Protected Activity
On February 13, 2022, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) held that Starbucks violated federal labor law at multiple locations in Philadelphia in 2019 and 2020. The decision, issued by the NLRB’s three Democrats, found that Starbucks unlawfully threatened, surveilled, and interrogated employees, prohibited discussion of terms and conditions of employment, reduced the work hours of union supporters, and ultimately terminated two employees for engaging in protected activity.
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