Over the last few years, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has veered away from its traditional role of focusing on union-management issues to scrutinizing and finding illegal a wide array of employer workplace policies. This has meant that companies — both union and non-union — have found themselves having to consider the implications of National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) compliance in areas where they simply would not have had to previously.
Given these more recent developments, we thought it might be helpful to prepare a primer on the NLRA to explain the basics of the law and the rights it confers, as well as summarize the present state of the law. Presented in a user-friendly question and answer format, the primer gives special emphasis to how current NLRB policy has impacted non-union employers.
Please note that because the makeup of the NLRB tends to reflect the political philosophy of the administration in power — NLRB members are appointed by the president — some of the agency’s policies are subject to change over time depending on who sits in the White House. Thus, the primer is designed to be informational only, and is not intended to convey legal advice.
Members of the Equal Employment Advisory Council (EEAC) can read more here.