Labor Board Proceedings and Practice

Subscribe to Labor Board Proceedings and Practice via RSS

Update (February 3, 2025): On February 1, President Trump fired Acting General Counsel Jessica Rutter.  At this time, it is unclear who will serve as Acting General Counsel or who President Trump will ultimately appoint as General Counsel of the NLRB. We will closely monitor and report on further developments.

Late Monday night, President Trump made two major changes to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), both of which will cause a major shift in the political leanings of the NLRB and one that may substantially impact the president’s direct authority over government agencies. One of those changes, the firing of NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, was expected and somewhat surprising that it took this long. The other change, the firing of Board Member Gwynne Wilcox, was unexpected and unprecedented.

Continue Reading President Trump Makes Two Big Changes to NLRB – One Expected, One Unprecedented

On Wednesday, the Senate did not confirm the re-appointment of current National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Chairman Lauren McFerran, a Democrat, whose term will expire December 16. President Biden’s nomination and attempted re-appointment of Chairman McFerran failed on a procedural vote when a vote to end debate and consider the nomination failed. Following this vote against ending debate, which resulted in the failure of McFerran’s nomination, a scheduled vote on another of Biden’s NLRB nominations, a Republican nominee, was withdrawn.

Continue Reading National Labor Relations Board Expected to Have Republican Majority Shortly After Trump Takes Office

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) recently issued two rulings that caused a seismic shift in what is permissible employer conduct during a union organizational campaign. While there is uncertainty about the longevity of these rulings with an incoming change in administration, employers are required to comply with the new precedents for the time being.

Continue Reading NLRB Releases Two Major Decisions Less Than a Week Apart

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has dropped its appeal of a Texas federal judge’s order striking down its new, expansive joint employer rule.  As readers may recall, late last year the NLRB issued a rule broadening the definition of joint employer, which would have significantly increased the number of entities that may be deemed joint employers and thus share responsibility for complying with the National Labor Relations Act. 

Continue Reading NLRB Withdraws Appeal of Joint Employer Rule

We previously posted here regarding a July 1, 2024, increase in the salary threshold for overtime exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Despite multiple legal challenges to the Department of Labor’s 2024 Rule, most of which remain pending, the 2024 Rule is now in effect for all private employers.  

Continue Reading Are You in Compliance with the New FLSA Salary Threshold?

On June 28, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark Chevron decision, which had required courts to uphold a federal agency’s interpretation of a statute as long as it was reasonable. Now, courts are required to exercise their independent judgment in deciding whether an agency has acted within its statutory authority, and courts may not defer to an agency’s interpretation of the law simply because a statute is ambiguous. 

Continue Reading Supreme Court Overturns Landmark Chevron Decision: Expect Impact on Employment Decisions


NOTE: This post was originally written October 31, 2023, and was updated on December 12, 2023.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently issued a final rule setting forth a new standard for joint-employer status under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The new rule, the NLRB recently voted to delay by 2 months and is now set to go into effect on February 26, 2024, drastically broadens the scope of who can be considered a joint employer under the NLRA.

Continue Reading NLRB Issues New Rule Broadening Joint-Employer Status

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently issued a decision radically changing how employers may use (or, more accurately, not use) nondisparagement and confidentiality clauses in severance agreements.

Continue Reading NLRB Rules that Confidentiality and Nondisparagement Provisions in Severance Agreements Presented to Section 7 Employees are Unlawful

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) recently announced it was changing course on whether students should be considered employees and therefore can unionize. This change of course returns to previous Board precedent from case law that graduate students, and perhaps any students employed for pay, can be considered employees. This change of course…

Can language in the workplace, even if uttered during otherwise protected conduct, lose its “protected” status under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) because the language is too offensive?  The answer is, generally, yes.

Prior NLRB Rulings Protected Offensive Language

However, in several rulings, the Obama-era National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that certain speech, which was patently offensive, nonetheless retained its protected status.  On September 5, 2019, the current NLRB invited briefs on the proper legal standard for when extremely profane or offensive language loses its protection.Continue Reading NLRB Seeks Public Comment on Offensive Language in the Workplace

From the Bass, Berry & Sims Blog Network
From the Bass, Berry & Sims Blog Network

Thought Leadership by our Attorneys.