The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) was especially aggressive during the Obama Administration in expanding its jurisdiction beyond its traditional role of resolving labor-management disputes, to include targeting a wide variety of common sense employer policies and practices that have little direct relationship to federal labor law.
Now, in the year since President Trump was sworn into office, the composition of the five-member Board has changed dramatically with the appointment of two new members by the President – temporarily giving the Board a 3 – 2 Republican majority. In addition, Mr. Trump has appointed a new General Counsel, the NLRB official who has a lot to say about the types of cases the Board hears.
It was widely anticipated that the new Republican majority, which had only a small window to begin to rein in the Obama Board’s overreach into these areas and restore an appropriate balance between the rights of employees and employers in the labor relations arena, would waste little time in taking action. In fact, that is exactly what happened. Prior to Mr. Miscimarra’s departure on December 16, the Board issued a series of cases reversing Obama-era policy, including new standards for analyzing employer handbook rules and narrowing the Obama Board’s controversial joint employer test.
NT Lakis attorneys have prepared a summary of some of the most important December developments at the Board.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.