NLRB Archives - EMPLOYEE BENEFITS BLOG

Looking Ahead to 2025: Global Labor & Employment Legal Update

by McDermott Will & Emery | Jan 7, 2025 | Employee Benefits, Employment, Labor

Following a dynamic year, coupled with a continually evolving legal landscape, employers face increasing regulatory compliance, organized labor advances, technological changes, challenges in protecting company information and retaining talent, and new litigation trends.

In a recent webinar, McDermott’s industry-leading employment team unpacked the most pertinent legal updates and provided tips and action items to get ahead in 2025. They discussed new laws taking effect in the new year, explored key developments impacting management and the workforce, and provided guidance on what employers can anticipate this year.

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Workplace Speech Policies Limit Legal and PR Risks

by Michael J. Sheehan, Michelle S. Strowhiro and Alexander Randolph | Feb 29, 2024 | Employee Benefits, Employment, Labor

The rules and regulations on workplace and employee speech, interpretation and enforcement are rapidly changing. Companies must carefully factor legal and business implications into their strategy to reach the desired outcomes for their customers, workforce and brand.

In this Law360 article, Michael Sheehan, Michelle Strowhiro and Alexander Randolph examine important considerations for companies as they navigate the complexities of workplace and employee speech.

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Heightened Labor Scrutiny Looms Over Workplace Rules

by Christopher Foster and Marjorie C. Soto Garcia | Feb 12, 2024 | Employment, Labor

A recent National Labor Relations Board decision will likely expose a broader range of workplace rules to regulator enforcement. According to this HR Dive article, introducing even ordinary workplace rules during unionization could draw new scrutiny. However, as Christopher Foster and Marjorie C. Soto Garcia explain, there are steps employers can take to mitigate risk.

NLRB Makes Joint Employment the Rule, Not the Exception

by Christopher Foster, Marjorie C. Soto Garcia, Sandra M. DiVarco and Alexander Randolph | Dec 19, 2023 | Employment

The National Labor Relations Board has changed its joint-employer rule, making it easier for entities doing business with each other to be deemed joint employers. The new rule goes further than any earlier joint-employer standard in two ways: (1) by making clear that indirect (or even unexercised) control is sufficient to prove joint-employer status, and (2) by dropping the requirement that there be enough control to permit meaningful collective bargaining. Businesses need to begin preparing for the new rule by mapping each business relationship for potential joint-employment exposure.

Top Three Labor Trends to Watch for in Q4 2023

by McDermott Will & Emery | Oct 10, 2023 | Labor

As we enter the last quarter of 2023, here are some of the key issues impacting employers:

1. New joint employer standard: More companies will be pulled into union organizing campaigns, contract negotiations and National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) proceedings involving their contractors when the NLRB issues a new joint employer rule.

2. Increased NLRB investigations and litigation: Union elections, activism and litigation at the NLRB are spiking. So far in 2023, there has been a 16% increase in unfair labor practice charges at the NLRB and high levels of union election petitions.

3. More aggressive union activity: More companies are facing pressure to accept terms, including adoption of union “neutrality agreements” which fast-track union organizing. There has been a 72% increase in strikes in 2023. Unions are expanding their ambitions, too. Physician groups are now targeted for major union organizing campaigns.

McDermott’s traditional labor subgroup advises companies and investors on union issues across industries in the United States and Europe. The team provides cross-disciplinary advising and works seamlessly with leading McDermott partners in employee benefits, antitrust, tax, corporate and healthcare practices, among others.

NLRB Undercuts Work Rules and Policies for Unionized and Nonunionized Employers

by David Beach, Marjorie C. Soto Garcia and Christopher Foster | Sep 27, 2023 | Employment, Labor

The National Labor Relations Board recently issued a decision that undercuts union and nonunion employers’ ability to enforce longstanding work policies. In general, this decision will lead to increased unfair labor practice charges, investigations and litigation.

Labor Under Biden: What Employers Need to Know

by McDermott Will & Emery | Dec 30, 2021 | Employee Benefits, Employment, Labor

Before the 2020 election, then-US Presidential candidate Joe Biden vowed to be the “strongest labor president you have ever had.” Now having been in office for almost a year, how has President Biden changed the country’s labor environment, and what can employers expect out of his administration? In these slides, McDermott Partners Ron Holland and Kristin E. Michaels and McDermott Associate Philip Shecter provide insight into US labor activity and how the latest labor developments affect both union and nonunion employers.

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How the American Jobs Plan Would Affect the Workplace

by McDermott Will & Emery | Apr 21, 2021 | Employment, Labor

The Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, union neutrality and changes to wages and enforcement of health and safety regulations are part of the legislative plan on its way to Congress. Of these proposals, the PRO Act, which has already passed the US House of Representatives, may face the most opposition in the Senate.

In a recent article by the Society for Human Resource Management, McDermott partner Ron Holland examines the potential impact of President Biden’s infrastructure package on the American workforce and economy.

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AB 5 Contractor-Classification Battles Set to Heat Up in 2021

by McDermott Will & Emery | Mar 4, 2021 | Employment, Labor

Employers grappling with independent-contractor classification had a busy 2020—and should expect a flurry of additional activity this year. Few areas in employment law are changing as rapidly. Last year, many concerned about the future of contractor-classification laws paid careful attention to California and AB 5, which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2020, and codified the California Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Dynamex Operations West Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles.

In a recent article for Law360, McDermott partners Ellen Bronchetti and Ron Holland consider the impacts of the California law on the gig economy, employer classification tests and organized labor in the United States.

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Will the Biden Administration Upend Workplace Law?

by McDermott Will & Emery | Jan 5, 2021 | Employment, Labor

Joe Biden’s ascendance to the presidency not only spells doom for many of the Trump administration’s business-friendly employment policies; it also may place established tenets of federal labor law on the chopping block. Biden may bring with him to the White House an ambitious pro-labor platform aimed at giving workers and unions a leg up after four years in which the Trump administration moved the legal needle sharply in employers’ direction.

A recent article in Law360, featuring McDermott partner Ron Holland, outlines four areas that labor and employment lawyers should watch after the Biden transition.

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