Ruling by ALJ Gives First Glimpse as to How the NLRB’s New “Boeing Standard” Regarding Workplace Rules and Policies Is Going To Be Applied

In late 2017, the new Republican majority on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), in an important ruling involving The Boeing Company, articulated a new and less restrictive standard for assessing whether facially-neutral employment policies unlawfully conflict with employee rights protected by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).

Concluding that the new “Boeing standard” should apply to all pending cases, the NLRB has since issued orders remanding upwards of 40 cases involving challenges to workplace rules and policies back to the administrative law judge (ALJ) assigned to adjudicate the facts of each case. The first of these remanded cases – Lamb Weston, Inc. – was decided recently by the ALJ, and has since been adopted by the Board.

While we do not typically report on ALJ decisions due to the possibility of their being reversed by either the Board or the courts, we thought it might be of interest for employers to see the reasoning the ALJ used in Lamb Weston in interpreting the Boeing standard. 

Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.