From time to time, the General Counsel’s Office of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) will issue an “Advice Memorandum” to NLRB regional offices outlining the General Counsel’s near-term enforcement priorities. The NLRB is the quasi-judicial agency that enforces the 80-year old federal law governing labor-management relations, and the NLRB’s General Counsel is the agency’s “top cop” who prosecutes enforcement actions against employers for alleged labor law violations.
The Board’s current General Counsel is Richard Griffin, who served as General Counsel of the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) before being appointed to the NLRB by President Obama. The General Counsel’s office under Mr. Griffin has been particularly aggressive in attempting to expand the Board’s jurisdiction beyond traditional labor-management issues to include a wide variety of employer workplace policies, many of which are subject to other federal employment laws enforced by other federal agencies.
Mr. Griffin’s latest memorandum to the NLRB’s regions instructs them to flag topics, including those beyond simple labor-management conflicts, that he wants brought to his attention for advice before the region acts. Among the issues Mr. Griffin has flagged for his attention are cases that involve “English-only” policies; the employment status of workers in the on-demand economy; misclassification of employees as independent contractors; and the right of employees to have a co-worker present during certain investigatory interviews.
A copy of the General Counsel’s March 22 “Advice Memorandum” is available here.
Members of the Equal Employment Advisory Council (EEAC) can read more here.