Tag: NLRB

Can You Prohibit Employees From Using Cell Phones At Work?

With the prevalence of cell phones in today’s society, many companies struggle with how to manage employee time spent on personal mobile devices. But there are legal limits on what employers can do on this front. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has taken the position that employees have a presumptive right, in most instances, under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to use personal phones during breaks and other non-working times.

A recent advice memo issued by the agency has reaffirmed its stance – even since the NLRB generally has taken a more lax view of employer personnel policies over the last year. At issue, in this case, was a company policy that limited employees’ use of personal cell phones in the workplace. The relevant analysis in the NLRB memo states:

“This [company’s] rule states that, because cell phones can present a ‘distraction in the workplace,’ resulting in ‘lost time and productivity,’ personal cell phones may be used for ‘work-related or critical, quality of life activities only.’ It defines ‘quality of life activities’ as including ‘communicating with service or health professionals who cannot be reached during a break or after business hours.’ The rule further states that ‘[o]ther cellular functions, such as text messaging and digital photography, are not to be used during working hours.’ This rule is unlawful because employees have a [NLRA] Section 7 right to communicate with each other through non-Employer monitored channels during lunch or break periods. Because the rule prohibits use of personal phones at all times, except for work-related or critical quality of life activities, it prohibits their use on those non-working times. The phrase regarding text messaging and digital photography is more limited, but still refers to ‘working hours,’ which the Board, in other contexts, has held includes non-work time during breaks. Although the employer has a legitimate interest in preventing distractions, lost time, and lost productivity, that interest is only relevant when employees are on work time. It, therefore, does not outweigh the employees’ Section 7 interest in communicating privately via their cell phones, during non-work time, about their terms and conditions of employment.” (emphasis added)

In other words, while an employer may be able to limit employee use of personal mobile devices during working time in order to minimize distractions, having a policy in place that is worded in a way that limits that activity during non-working time may run afoul of the NLRA.

This is another reminder for employers to ensure their policies are drafted in a way that conforms to applicable NLRB standards. A poorly drafted rule – even with the best intentions – can result in legal headaches for a company.

 

© 2019 BARNES & THORNBURG LLP
This post was written by David J. Pryzbylski of Barnes & Thornburg LLP.
Read more employer HR policies on the labor and employment type of law page.

Woo-Hoo! Workplace Civility Rules Upheld by NLRB General Counsel

Between 2009 and 2017, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) invalidated countless workplace employment policies – including those of non-union employers – where the agency found them to potentially infringe on workers’ rights under the National Labor Relations Act. Among the types of policies overturned were “positive workplace” or “workplace civility” rules, which were said to limit employees’ right to discuss the terms and conditions of their employment. While courts sometimes intervened to strike down these board decisions, the NLRB nevertheless largely held to its view.

However, in the wake of the Boeing case last year, the agency has been taking a fresh look at workplace civility rules. And those results are refreshing.

This week, the NLRB General Counsel’s office released a memo in which it analyzed a “Commitment to My Co-Workers” policy of a company. That policy required workers to “maintain healthy relationships” and to address conflicts with co-workers directly instead of behind their backs. Before the new standard announced in Boeing, that policy almost certainly would have been found to be unlawful. But relying on Boeing, the NLRB General Counsel determined the workplace civility rules at issue were permissible and that the company could require employees to sign off on the policy and even terminate ones who refused to do so.

This is great news for companies who want to promote positivity and healthy relationships in the workplace. It also serves as a reminder that under the NLRB’s current employment policy test enunciated in Boeing, many workplace policies that may have been rescinded due to board decisions issued between 2009-2017 may be worth revisiting in 2019.

 

© 2018 BARNES & THORNBURG LLP
This post was written by David J. Pryzbylski of Barnes & Thornburg LLP.

You’ve Got Mail: NLRB Requests Briefing on Standard for Employee Use of Employer Owned Electronic Communication Systems

In what could signify the beginning of the end for Purple Communications, Inc., 361 NLRB 1050 (2014) and guaranteed employee access to Employer computer systems for union organizing purposes, the NLRB issued a notice on August 1 inviting the filing of briefs on whether the Board should uphold, modify or overrule the decision.  Under Purple Communications (which we previously covered here), employees have a presumptive right to use their employer’s e-mail system to engage in protected activity under Section 7 of the NLRA on nonworking time, unless the employer can demonstrate circumstances allowing it to restrict such use.  Overturning Purple Communications could return the Board to the standard under Register Guard, 351 NLRB 1110 (2007), which permitted employers to impose Section 7-neutral restrictions on an employee’s non-work use of their e-mail systems, even if those restrictions ultimately limited the employee’s use of the employer’s e-mail for communications involving protected activity.

The NLRB issued the notice in response to a 2016 ALJ decision finding that an employer’s computer usage policy did not comply with Purple Communications standard, because it prohibited employees from using their work e-mail for any nonbusiness purpose.  Board Members Pearce (who was in the Purple Communicationsmajority) and McFerran dissented from the decision to solicit briefs.  Both dissenting Members contended that issuing the notice was inappropriate in light of the pending appeal of Purple Communications before the Ninth Circuit and their view that there has been no change in workplace trends or evidence showing that Purple Communications has created significant challenges for employers, employees, unions or the Board.

Perhaps in recognition that workplace communication technology has clearly expanded beyond e-mail, the notice welcomes briefing on what standard the Board should apply to other methods of employee communication on employer-owned equipment (e.g., instant messages, text messages, and social media postings). While the Board has limited its holdings in the area of computer usage to employer e-mail systems, this notice may indicate a move by the Board to apply a consistent standard to all forms of workplace communication platforms.

 

© 2018 Proskauer Rose LLP.
This post was written by Michael J Lebowich and Jordan Simon of Proskauer Rose LLP.
For more labor and employment news, check out the National Law Review’s Labor and Employment Page.

Handbook Wars – Common Sense Returns NLRB Overhauls Standard for Legality of Work Rules

We have noted many times over the years how the NLRB’s zeal to review employer policies, or more correctly, fragments of employer policies, for lawfulness has led to nettlesome issues that rarely, if ever, involve actual employees.  The results have been absurd and have raised an entire cottage industry of attacks on language by unions and vetting of employer policies for lawfulness.

This may be ending.  As we noted yesterday, the NLRB issued a significant decision that will have far-reaching implications for both unionized and non-unionized workplaces.  In Boeing Company, 365 NLRB No. 154 (2017), the Board established a new standard for evaluating whether facially lawful workplace rules, policies or employee handbook provisions unlawfully interfere with employees’ exercise of Section 7 rights.  In so doing, the Board placed in doubt the applicability of scores of decisions issued in the 13-years since Lutheran Heritage, 343 NLRB 646 (2004), was decided.  We previously identified this issue as a case that the NLRB would revisit once a new majority was installed.

“Reasonably Construe” Standard

For the last 14 years the Board evaluated whether an employee would “reasonably construe” the language of a work rule to prohibit the exercise of NLRA rights.  If it did, then the rule—regardless of whether it actually restricted Section 7 activity—was found unlawful.  Applying this standard, an inconsistent line of cases developed.  Take, for instance, a sampling or recent decisions concerning “civility in the workplace.”  A rule prohibiting “abusive or threatening language to anyone on Company premises” was lawful, while a rule restricting “loud, abusive or foul language” was not.  And, as noted, a policy or fragment of a policy could be found unlawful even if there was no evidence that employees read the policy or were even aware of its existence.  It was, in terms of the NLRA, a victimless crime.

Policy Considerations Behind Abandoning The Lutheran Village Standard

The new three member Board majority (Miscimarra, Kaplan and Emmanuel) decided to change this standard because employers were often held to an impossible standard of precision in drafting language in which they would need to foresee any potential impact on any Section 7 right, regardless of how remote.  An employer would have to foresee the future, which the majority characterized as requiring “perfection that literally is the enemy of the good.”  The Lutheran Heritage standard has been criticized as unworkable by many in the employer community, and by various Board members over the years.  So it is not surprising that that a new standard was on the agenda.

New Balancing Test

The Board abandoned the singularly-focused and vague “reasonably construe” standard, in favor of a new balancing test, which would consider the impact of the rule on NLRA rights and an employer’s business justification for the rule.  Going forward,  in order to provide greater clarity and certainty to all parties, the Board indicated it would categorize the results of future decisions in three ways:

  • Category 1: Lawful rules because (i) when “reasonably interpreted,” the rule does not prohibit or interfere with the exercise of NLRA rights or (ii) the potential adverse impact on protected rights is outweighed by justifications associated with the rule.  Examples of these types of rules include the no-camera requirement in the Boeing case, where the employer supported its rule with multiple business and security justifications.  The Board also found that a rule requiring employees to have “harmonious interactions and relationships” in the workplace, and other rules requiring employees to abide by basic standards of civility would be categorically lawful.
  • Category 2: Rules warranting individual scrutiny on a case-by-case basis.
  • Category 3: Unlawful rules because they would prohibit or limit NLRA-protected conduct, and the adverse impact is not outweighed by legitimate business justifications (e.g., a rule prohibiting discussion of wages or benefits with another).

The Board proceeded to use this new framework to find that Boeing’s policy restricting the use of camera-enable devices was justified in light of the employer’s security concerns.  As it does in every case in which it overrules precedent and/or sets a new standard, the Board weighed whether to apply this new test retroactively, and decided to apply the standard to all pending cases in whatever stage.

Impact of this Decision

It will be some time before the full impact of the decision will be felt as rules are evaluated under the new standard.  However, the fact Lutheran Heritage was overruled likely will inhibit unions from attacking employer policies as the forum for these sorts of claims is less receptive.

Because the Board will evaluate the purpose for the rule, employers should consider clearly articulating the reasons for a rule in the policy.

Also, employers may feel less constrained by the thicket created by the previous standard; however, the true impact of Boeing likely will be felt once the host of pending cases work their way through ALJs and the Board under this new paradigm.  Only then will employers understand how the Board’s new categories will work.  We will keep you posted…there is sure to be more to follow.

© 2017 Proskauer Rose LLP.
This post was contributed by Mark Theodore and Joshua S Fox of Proskauer Rose LLP.
For more on the NLRB go to the National Law Review’s Labor and Employment Practice group page.

“Newly Minted” NLRB Majority Begins to Roll Back Decisions of the Obama Board

In two recent developments, the “new” National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”), which includes two Members nominated by President Trump, has commenced the anticipated roll back of decisions and procedures rendered by the previous Administration’s NLRB.

1. The NLRB General Counsel can no longer demand settlements with a full remedy for all violations. 

In UPMC, 365 NLRB No. 153 (December 11, 2017), the Board reversed a 2016 decision that prohibited settlements of NLRB complaints over the objection of the NLRB General Counsel (Prosecutor) and the party filing the charge, unless the settlement provided complete remedies for all violations alleged in the Complaint. The 2016 decision, United States Postal Service, 364 NLRB No. 116 (2016), had overturned decades-long NLRB precedent established in Independent Stove, 287 NLRB 740 (1987).

In the UPMC majority’s (Chairman Philip Miscimarra, Member William Emanuel, Member Marvin Kaplan) view, requiring a settlement of all violations with a full remedy for the employees (and union) “imposed an unacceptable constraint on the Board itself which retained the right under prior law to review the reasonableness of any … settlement terms” offered by Respondents (employers and unions). According to the UPMC majority, the 2016 USPS decision unduly restricted the settlement of NLRB cases and ignored the risks inherent in NLRB litigation. The UPMC decision now allows a Respondent, with approval of the Administrative Law Judge, to settle a case without providing full and complete relief, so long as the resolution is “reasonable.” This approach should facilitate more settlements, and reduce the costs and uncertainty inherent in litigation (for employers and the NLRB).

The dissent strongly disagreed with what it called “an eleventh hour” decision during Republican Chairman Miscimarra’s last week as a Board member. However, Chairman Miscimarra will soon likely be replaced by another Republican.

2. The NLRB seeks comments on quickie elections – is more change likely? 

The day after the UPMC decision, the NLRB published a Request for Information (“RFI”) in the Federal Register seeking prompt public comments about the controversial 2014 Election Rule, commonly referred to as the “quickie election” rule.

Specifically, the RFI seeks public input from December 13, 2017 until February 12, 2018 regarding the following three questions:

  1. Should the 2014 Election Rule be retained without change?
  2. Should the 2014 Election Rule be retained with modifications? If so, what should be modified?
  3. Should the 2014 Election Rule be rescinded?

The “quickie election” rule, effective since April 2015, impacted NLRB elections in three main ways:

  • It significantly shortened the time period between the date a petition for election is filed and the date of the election. As a result, elections frequently took place approximately three weeks after the petition was filed. This period shortened employers’ time to respond to the union’s campaign efforts from approximately 6 weeks to 23 days.
  • It considerably restricted the scope of any pre-election challenges that might result in litigation, such as individual voter eligibility issues, unless the question relating to eligibility affected twenty percent (20%) of the proposed unit. Eligibility issues, including determining who is a supervisor and thus is precluded from voting, were generally delayed until after the elections if the union won.
  • It forced employers to disclose a substantial amount of private employee information to the unions, including providing unions with employee contact information. In particular, the employer is required to disclose, for the first time, employee personal email addresses and phone numbers, including all cell phone numbers. Previously, only mailing addresses needed to be disclosed.

While the “quickie election” rule has not substantially increased union election win percentage, opponents of the rule have objected to the limited time it provides employers to communicate with employees regarding the election, the deferral of election eligibility issues until after the election, as well as the procedural challenges.

Takeaways

Moving forward, interested parties should monitor the new Board’s actions. The recent developments indicate the new Board could likely overturn some of the decisions rendered and procedures proffered by President Obama’s NLRB.

© Polsinelli PC, Polsinelli LLP in California
This post was written by W. Terrence Kilroy and Henry J. Thomas of Polsinelli PC.
Learn more at our Labor and Employment Practice Group Page.

Share Recent Eighth Circuit Case Illustrates the Need for Newest Members of the NLRB to Be Confirmed Sooner Rather Than Later

In another example of a federal circuit court taking the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to task for stretching federal labor law past the point of recognition, the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals recently refused to enforce a NLRB order reinstating several former employees. The former employees were discharged after they posted flyers around town insinuating their employer was selling unsafe, germ-laden sandwiches as part of a campaign to enhance their sick leave. MikLin Enterprises, Inc. v. NLRB, No. 14-3099 (July 3, 2017).

In its decision, the Eight Circuit upbraided the NLRB for abandoning and ignoring the Supreme Court of the United States’ precedent regarding when an employee can be disciplined for “disloyalty” in the midst of a union organizing drive. The Eighth Circuit took particular issue with the NLRB’s interpretation of the seminal Supreme Court case NLRB v. Local Union No. 1229, IBEW (Jefferson Standard) and found that the NLRB’s reasoning effectively overruled Jefferson Standard.

Background

MikLin is a family business that owns and operates 10 Jimmy John’s sandwich shop franchises in the Minneapolis-St.Paul area. In 2007, several MikLin workers began an organizing campaign seeking representation by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) union.

In an attempt to garner more support for a rerun election, union supporters began a sick leave campaign in early 2011. They posted a flyer on community bulletin boards in MikLin stores with two identical images of a Jimmy John’s sandwich. Above the first image were the words, “YOUR SANDWICH MADE BY A HEALTHY JIMMY JOHN’S WORKER.” The text above the second image said, “YOUR SANDWICH MADE BY A SICK JIMMY JOHN’S WORKER.” Below the pictures, the white text asked: “CAN’T TELL THE DIFFERENCE?” The response, in red and slightly smaller, said: “THAT’S TOO BAD BECAUSE JIMMY JOHN’S WORKERS DON’T GET PAID SICK DAYS. SHOOT, WE CAN’T EVEN CALL IN SICK.” Below, in slightly smaller white text, was the warning, “WE HOPE YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM IS READY BECAUSE YOU’RE ABOUT TO TAKE THE SANDWICH TEST.” The text at the bottom of the poster asked readers to help the workers win paid sick days by going to their website.

The day before the IWW could request a rerun election, its supporters distributed a press release, letter, and the sandwich poster to more than 100 media contacts. The press release highlighted discussed the employees’ need for sick leave and ended with a threat: If MikLin would not talk with the IWW about their demands for paid sick leave, they would proceed with “dramatic action” by “plastering the city with thousands of Sick Day posters.”

Days later, IWW supporters implemented their threat to plaster the city with posters. However, in the new version of the poster, rather than asking for support of the employees’ request for paid sick leave, the public posters listed the MikLin CEO’s personal telephone number and instructed customers to call him to “LET HIM KNOW YOU WANT HEALTHY WORKERS MAKING YOUR SANDWICH!” Two days later, MikLin fired six employees who coordinated the attack and issued written warnings to three others who assisted in it.

The NLRB Proceedings

The Board’s administrative law judge (ALJ) determined that MikLin violated the National Labor Relations Act by discharging the employees. Citing prior Board decisions, the ALJ ruled that the NLRA “protects employee communications to the public that are part of and related to an ongoing labor dispute” unless they are “so disloyal, reckless, or maliciously untrue as to lose the Act’s protections.” The ALJ found that to lose the act’s protections “an employee’s public criticism . . . must evidence ‘a malicious motive’ or be made with knowledge of the statements’ falsity or with reckless disregard for their truth or falsity.”

The ALJ found that the posters in question were not maliciously untrue. “While ‘it is not literally true that employees could not call in sick,’ the ALJ observed, employees ‘are subject to discipline if they call in sick without finding a replacement,’” and thus—according to the ALJ—the assertion that employees were required to work when sick was protected hyperbole. Though MikLin had a strong track record with the health department, the ALJ found that “it is at least arguable that [MikLin’s] sick leave policy subjects the public to an increased risk of food borne disease.”

A divided panel of the Board affirmed the ALJ’s findings and conclusions. The majority found “that neither the posters nor the press release were shown to be so disloyal, reckless, or maliciously untrue as to lose the Act’s protection.” The public communications “were clearly related to the ongoing labor dispute concerning the employees’ desire for paid sick leave. . . . Indeed, any person viewing the posters and press release would reasonably understand that the motive for the communications was to garner support for the campaign to improve the employees’ terms and conditions of employment by obtaining paid sick leave rather than to disparage [MikLin] or its product.”

MikLin appealed the Board’s order reinstating the employees to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. On appeal, a three-judge panel upheld the NLRB’s ruling, but upon rehearing en banc by the full court, the ruling was overturned.

The Eighth Circuit’s Analysis

In its full court hearing, the Eighth Circuit took the NLRB to task for significantly misreading the Supreme Court’s decision in Jefferson Standard. First, the majority focused on the Board’s interpretation that no act of employee disparagement is unprotected disloyalty unless it is “maliciously motivated to harm the employer.” They found this additional requirement impermissibly overruled Jefferson Standard.

Second the court balked at the Board’s definition of “malicious motive.” The Board excluded from Jefferson Standard’s interpretation of Section 10(c) of the NLRA all employee disparagement that is part of or directly related to an ongoing labor dispute as improper. In other words, the Board refused to treat as “disloyal” any public communication intended to advance employees’ aims in a labor dispute, regardless of the manner in which, and the extent to which, it harms the employer.

The court rejected that idea:

By requiring an employer to show that employees had a subjective intent to harm, and burdening that requirement with an overly restrictive need to show “malicious motive,” the Board has effectively removed from the Jefferson Standard inquiry the central Section 10(c) issue as defined by the Supreme Court — whether the means used reflect indefensible employee disloyalty. This is an error of law.

Rather than employee motive, the Eighth Circuit explained that critical question in the Jefferson Standard disloyalty inquiry is whether the employees’ public communications reasonably targeted the employer’s labor practices or indefensibly disparaged the quality of the employer’s products or services. The Eight Circuit found that when employees convince customers not to patronize an employer because its labor practices are unfair, subsequent settlement of the labor dispute brings the customers back—to the benefit of both employer and employee. By contrast, the court found, sharply disparaging the employer’s products or services as unsafe, unhealthy, or of shoddy quality causes harm that outlasts the labor dispute to the detriment of employees, as well as the employer.

Key Takeaways

While the Eighth Circuit’s decision is heartening, its effect will be limited for the time being as the NLRB is under no obligation to recognize the court’s interpretation of federal labor law. Further, the decision highlights the cost of fighting incorrect NLRB decisions for employers; MikLin had to appeal the ALJ’s decision to the NLRB, then appeal that decision to the Eighth Circuit, and then request a rehearing after the three-judge panel wrongly decided the appeal. Many employers simply do not have the resources to see a fight like this through to the end.

With President Trump’s selections to the NLRB being vetted by Congress this week, we can hope for a light at the end of this long, dark tunnel for employers.

This post was written byMatthew J. Kelley of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C.
Go to the National Law Review for more legal analysis.

Employer No-Recording Policies May Violate NLRA Says the Second Circuit

On June 1, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which covers Connecticut, New York and Vermont, upheld a National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) finding that Whole Foods Market Group, Inc.’s no-recording policy was overbroad and violated the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”).

In Whole Foods Market Group, Inc. v. NLRB, Whole Foods’ employee handbook contained a provision that prohibited employees from recording conversations, phone calls, and meetings, without first obtaining managerial approval.  The court concluded that this no-recording policy violated the NLRA.  The NLRA deems it an unfair labor practice “to interfere with, restrain or coerce employees in the exercise of their rights [to, among other things, engage in concerted activities for the purposes of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.]  Whole Foods insisted that its policy was not intended to interfere with employees’ rights to engage in concerted activity or to prevent them from discussing their jobs, and that it was merely a general prohibition against recording in the workplace.  Whole Foods argued that its policy was “to promote employee communication in the workplace” by assuring employees that their remarks would not be recorded.

Whole FoodsThe Second Circuit found, however, that the seemingly neutral policy was overbroad and could “chill” an employee’s exercise of rights under the NLRA.  In other words, the policy prohibited recording regardless of whether the recording involved an exercise of those rights.  As a result, “’employees would reasonably construe the language to prohibit’ recording protected by [the NLRA].”  Despite finding that Whole Foods’ policy violated the NLRA, the Second Circuit said that “[i]t should be possible to craft a policy that places some limits on recording audio and video in the work place that does not violate the [NLRA].”  Such a policy might be acceptable if it was narrow in scope, and furthered a legitimate safety concern.

Previously, in 1989, the Second Circuit held that recording a conversation at work in violation of a no-recording policy might not be sufficient “cause” for the termination of an employment agreement under Connecticut law.  In  Heller v. Champion Int’l Corp, (2d Cir. 1989), the Second Circuit rejected the employer’s assertion that such a recording constituted an act of disloyalty on the employee’s part.  According to the Second Circuit in Heller, the employee’s surreptitious tape-recording to be sure, represents a kind of ‘disloyalty’ to the company, but not necessarily the kind of disloyalty that under these circumstances would warrant dismissal as a matter of law. . . . Considering the range of factors that might have justified [the employee’s] conduct, especially his belief that he was gathering evidence in support of a possible claim of age discrimination, we cannot say that [the employer] had sufficient cause, as a matter of law, to dismiss him.

The Second Circuit’s latest decision in Whole Foods makes clear that an overbroad no-recording policy in the workplace will be stricken in violation of the NLRA.  At the very least, courts may disregard an overbroad policy depending upon the circumstances surrounding the recording.  In order for a no-recording policy to withstand scrutiny, care must be taken to limit the scope of the prohibition, and consider whether the employee’s purpose for recording jeopardizes an employer’s legitimate interest.

This post was written by Salvatore G. Gangemi of Murtha Cullina.

NLRB Invalidates Another Employer Arbitration Agreement – But NOT Under D.R. Horton

NLRB sealOn April 13, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) invalidated yet another employer arbitration program. This time, however, the NLRB did not do so under its infamous D.R. Horton case. In Dish Network, LLC, the NLRB struck down an arbitration agreement an employer used with its workforce because: 1) as drafted, employees would reasonably construe it as limiting or prohibiting them from filing charges with the NLRB; and 2) a confidentiality provision within the agreement that prohibited employees from discussing anything related to arbitration proceedings, even those related to terms and conditions of employment, was overly broad and infringed on employees’ rights to discuss such issues under the National Labor Relations Act.

While the NLRB’s general counsel also alleged the arbitration program should be found unlawful under D.R. Horton, the NLRB declined to strike it down on that basis because there was no explicit provision in the agreement that limited class or collective actions, and there was no evidence the company ever tried to preclude such actions from forming based on the agreement.

This case serves as an important reminder for companies using or considering an arbitration program to resolve workplace disputes with its employees that the NLRB aggressively scrutinizes such agreements. Accordingly, care must be taken when drafting and implementing the agreements so they account for recent NLRB decisions and guidance. Failure to do so may result in the program being partially or wholly invalidated.

ARTICLE BY David J. Pryzbylski of Barnes & Thornburg LLP
© 2017 BARNES & THORNBURG LLP

NLRB Will Not Hack Into Prior Decision Regarding Employee Email Use During Non-Work Time

NLRB employee email national labor relations boardNetwork security and protection of confidential information are among the reasons many companies place limits on how and when employees may use company-provided email.  However, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) has largely ignored if not outright rejected these legitimate concerns, finding that under certain circumstances, they are outweighed by employees’ right to use email as a means to engage in concerted activity protected by Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which includes union organizing.  The NLRB’s March 24, 2017 decision in Purple Communications, Inc.reconfirmed the Board’s position, first announced in an earlier 2014 decision, that an employer that provides its employees with access to company email systems must presumptively allow employees to use those systems during non-work time to engage in NLRA-protected activity.  Accordingly, under this standard, an employer who maintains a policy prohibiting employees from all use of company email during non-work time presumptively violates the NLRA.

It was precisely this type of non-work time email restriction that landed Purple Communications, Inc. in hot water with the NLRB.  At the initial hearing in this case, an administrative law judge (ALJ) found that Purple’s total ban on non-work time use of company email did not violate the NLRA, relying on the NLRB’s decision from 2007 in Register Guard, which held that employees have no statutory right to use employer-provided email systems for Section 7 purposes, and thus allowed employers to prohibit non-work time use of company email systems, so long as the policy or practice did not discriminate against NLRA-protected activity.  The parties on both sides in the Purple matter appealed the ALJ’s decision on this and other grounds, and the matter was taken up for consideration by the Board. After review of the record, a Board majority (in a three-to-two member decision) promulgated a new standard under the NLRA for employer regulation of its own email systems during non-work time (Purple I).  The Board majority expressly overruled Register Guard, and held that under its new standard, employees are presumptively entitled to use their employers’ email systems during non-work time in order to engage in statutorily-protected communications.  The Board announced that this presumption can only be overcome in rare cases where “special circumstances” exist to allow employers to maintain “production or discipline.”  Notably, special circumstances cannot be established through the ordinary (yet entirely legitimate) concerns that affect all employers, such as those mentioned above concerning security or confidentiality of information.  In its order setting forth this standard, the Board also remanded the matter back to the ALJ to enter an order consistent with the new standard.  On remand, the ALJ predictably found Purple’s policy violated the NLRA under the Purple I standard.  Purple once again appealed, asking the Board to reconsider the standard it announced in the Purple I decision.

On March 24, 2017, a majority of the three-member Board panel assigned to review the matter confirmed the standard announced in Purple I, without significant comment except to refer back to the original 2014 majority decision.  Acting Board Chairman Philip Miscimarra dissented from the majority’s Purple II decision, as he did in Purple I, calling the standard it set forth “incorrect and unworkable,” and pointing out many of its practical flaws.  Among them, Acting Chairman Miscimarra explained that the Purple standard fails to properly balance an employer’s right to control its technology resources, which are a significant expense to employers to maintain and secure, with employees’ NLRA rights.  The dissent also pointed out that the decision limits employers’ ability to control work-time behavior, because an email sent by one employee during his or her non-work time often will be received and read by another employee during his or her own work time.  In addition, the dissent noted the tension created by the majority’s decision between an employer’s legitimate right to monitor use of its technology, including email (allowing it to appropriately intercept improper communications, such as harassing or discriminatory communications for which it could be liable under other laws), with the NLRA’s prohibition of employer surveillance of NLRA protected activity. These and other concerns are likely now once again going through many employers’ minds when considering the Purple standard.

There is a silver lining for employers, at least for now.  First, the Purple standard does not apply to employer regulation of email during working time, only non-work time.  Second, the Purple standard only applies to employers who already grant employees access to company email systems in the course of their work; employers are not required to provide employees with email access they do not otherwise have.  Third, the Purple decision only applies to company email, and not other forms of company technology.  However, the latter restriction may only be temporary.  Although the composition of the NLRB is expected to become more employer-friendly with the change in presidential administration, it is possible that the NLRB could use the same or similar reasoning from Purple to broaden the non-work time use requirement to other forms of company technology (cell phones and social network platforms, to name a couple).

Because of this, employers would be well-served to review their technology policies.  Absent truly unique circumstances, employers generally should avoid policies that state a total ban on non-work time use of company-provided email.  Bolstering other company policies, such as those that relate to confidentiality and time keeping, may help alleviate some of the problems meant to be addressed by a broad non-work time email ban. And, to avoid becoming the next name on a new NLRB standard, consider whether any non-work time use restrictions on other forms of technology might be overbroad under the reasoning in Purple.

ARTICLE BY Daniel B. Pasternak of Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP

© Copyright 2017 Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP

“Change” Comes to Washington—What to Expect

President-elect Donald TrumpOn January 3, 2017, the 115th U.S. Congress opened with Republican majorities in both houses:

  • U.S. Senate: 52 Republicans and 46 Democrats and 2 Independents who Caucus with the Democrats

  • U.S. House of Representatives: 241 Republicans and 194 Democrats

On January 20, 2017, President-elect Donald Trump will be inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States, with an ambitious agenda set for the first 100 days, including the confirmation of his cabinet appointees and a yet-to-be-named Supreme Court nominee. Among his first acts, President-elect Trump is expected to undo many of the executive orders and “midnight regulations” of the Obama administration.

In the closing days of 2016, President Barack Obama adopted numerous federal regulations that may have served to advance and preserve his legacy. During his election campaign, Trump announced that, on his first day in office, his intention would be to roll back the executive orders adopted during the Obama administration and to seek repeal and replacement of other enactments such as the Affordable Care Act (or Obamacare). Most final regulations, however, may not simply be overturned with the stroke of the president’s pen, but must be undone by Congress, the courts, or reverse notice and comment rulemaking.

Thus, in addition to confirming President Trump’s cabinet nominations as quickly as possible, among the other early challenges for Congress will be to repeal and replace Obamacare and to invalidate en bloc the so-called “midnight regulations” and others adopted by the Obama administration or initiate a Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval.

The first 100 days of the new Trump administration and the new 115th Congress will be busy and consumed by the following:

Senate Confirmations: Secretary of Labor-Designate Andy Puzder

Since his election, President-elect Trump has named his selections for cabinet seats, including on December 8, 2016, his choice of Andy Puzder to be the next Secretary of Labor. Puzder is the president and chief executive officer of CKE Restaurants, which has over 3,700 franchise restaurants, employing over 75,000 employees in the United States and 40 other countries. He has long been an advocate of job creation and an outspoken critic of government regulation of business, including the dramatic increase in the salary basis for exemption from overtime for “white collar” employees under the proposed overtime regulations. Puzder represents a dramatic shift from outgoing Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez.

Senate Democrats and labor unions have threatened opposition to Puzder’s confirmation. Under current Senate rules, however, confirmation requires only a simple majority since then Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) pushed through a rules change to eliminate 60-vote filibusters of administration and judicial nominations, except for nominations to the Supreme Court of the United States. With a majority of 52 votes, Senate Republicans should be able to confirm Mr. Puzder even if all 48 Democrats vote against his confirmation. The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions has scheduled Mr. Puzder’s confirmation hearing for January 27, 2017.

Since Election Day, President-elect Trump and his transition teams (landing teams) have been hard at work vetting candidates for not only the cabinet, but subcabinet positions as well. Following Mr. Puzder’s confirmation, we expect the announcement of critical subcabinet positions at the U.S. Department of Labor, including those of deputy secretary of labor; solicitor; assistant secretaries for policy, occupational safety and health, and labor-management standards; and administrator of the Wage and Hour Division, among others.

Turning Around the NLRB and EEOC

At the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), President-elect Trump will be able to designate lone Republican Board Member Philip Miscimarra as the new chairman to replace current Democratic Chairman Mark Pearce. He will also likely nominate two Republican members to join Miscimarra and current Democratic Members Pearce and Nancy Schiffer, thus giving Republicans a 3–2 majority. However, the task of reconsidering the staggering number of blatantly pro-union decisions by the Obama Board, which by some estimates overturned 4,559 years of well-settled Board law precedent, will be slowed by current Democratic General Counsel Richard Griffin, whose term will not expire until November of 2017. A former union lawyer, Griffin for the remainder of his term will likely insist that the NLRB’s regional offices adhere to and enforce the law established by the Obama Board, and will probably limit the opportunity to present cases to the new Trump Board for reconsideration. Since the NLRB is prohibited from issuing “advisory” opinions, the new Board will need to wait for “live cases” to rise up the pipeline. Thus, reversals of Obama Board decisions are not likely to come quickly.

At the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), current Democratic Chair Jenny Yang is now expected to serve out her term. President-elect Trump, however, will be able to designate Republican Commissioner Victoria Lipnic as chair and to nominate a Republican to fill the seat vacated by Republican Commissioner Constance Barker upon the expiration of Yang’s term in July of 2017. Barker’s nomination for a new term was pending in the Senate when Congress adjourned, and it must be resubmitted in the current Congress.

Overturning Federal Regulations

On his first day in office, President-elect Trump is expected to overturn numerous executive orders dating back to President Obama’s earliest days in 2009. Included may be executive orders mandating project labor agreements on federal construction projects, prohibiting reimbursement of labor relations costs for federal contractors, and setting mandatory minimum wages and paid family leave for federal contractors. Most importantly, he is likely to overturn Executive Order 13673 “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” requiring federal contractors and subcontractors to report “administrative merits determinations” (including alleged violations of 14 federal labor laws and equivalent state laws based on agency complaints prior to litigation and final judgment). These reports would need to be considered by federal contracting officials in the awarding of future federal contracts. Expect the so-called government contractor “blacklisting” rules and its implementing regulations and DOL guidance, already enjoined preliminarily by a court decision, to be among the first executive orders to be undone.

For its part, Congress is considering legislation to block “midnight regulations” issued by the outgoing Obama administration. During its first week in session, the new 115th Congress passed the Midnight Rules Relief Act (H.R. 21) sponsored by Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA) and the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act of 2017 sponsored by Representative Doug Collins (R-GA).

The Midnight Rules Relief Act amends the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to allow joint resolutions disapproving en bloc regulations submitted to Congress for review within 60 days of the end of a president’s term. The CRA may only be invoked on individual regulations, not a series of regulations en bloc.

The REINS Act requires that all new “major regulations” (those with an economic impact of $100 million or more) be subject to an up-or-down vote by a simple majority in both houses of Congress and be signed by the president before taking effect.

Of course, Congress already can institute a resolution of disapproval under the CRA for individual federal regulations within 60 legislative days of taking effect (or for a “reset” period upon the opening of a new Congress for regulations that were submitted to Congress for review on or after June 13, 2016, prior to its adjournment sine die). The resolution of disapproval is not subject to filibuster and, if passed and signed by the president, the same or “substantially similar” regulation may not be reintroduced and repromulgated in the future. The only federal rule ever to be disapproved under the CRA was the OSHA ergonomics standard issued in November of 2000, which was disapproved by the Republican Congress and signed by President George W. Bush in 2001.

Finally, of course, Congress may attach a “rider” to an appropriations or reconciliation bill (the latter of which is not subject to a Senate filibuster) that denies funding for the agency to enforce the regulation.

What Else?

In addition to the foregoing, Congress is expected to roll back agency regulatory powers by passing the Regulatory Accountability Act of 2017, H.R. 5 (Goodlatte, R-VA), which would repeal the longstanding so-called “Chevron deference” given to agencies’ legal interpretations. The legal standard originates from the Supreme Court’s 1984 decision in Chevron USA, Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. The legislation would eliminate Chevron standards frequently used by courts to uphold agency interpretations of federal regulations, as well as change agency rulemaking and strip agency “guidance” from having legal effect. In addition, the bill would require six-month delays of enforcement for new rules and mandatory litigation stays for “major rules” that would have an impact of $1 billion or more on commerce. The bill also would require agencies to calculate the direct, indirect, and cumulative effects of new rules on small business. A vote on the bill is expected in the House in January, over the strong opposition of organized labor and environmental groups that fear that the bill will curtail labor and environmental rule making.

Other Priorities—Will the Government Be Less Dysfunctional?

Newly-elected presidents often pursue aggressive first year agendas that embody their most important policy goals enunciated during their election campaigns. President Trump will be no different, and he is likely to advance policy objectives fulfilling campaign promises on reversing government regulations as well as on immigration, trade, taxes, military spending, national security, infrastructure, and job growth. Taking on that laundry list of policy initiatives will be easier said than done. From the start of his administration, President Obama had difficulty overcoming united Republican opposition to his policy goals. For their part, Democratic leaders in the 115th Congress—led by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)—already promise to stand firmly against the confirmation of certain cabinet nominees and any Supreme Court nominee who in their opinion may be outside the mainstream of judicial philosophy and legislative policies they oppose. On a few issues, such as infrastructure, the Democratic leaders say they may seek bipartisan compromise. With a narrow 52-vote Senate majority, Senate Republicans will find it difficult to muster the 60 votes necessary to invoke cloture to end a Democratic legislative filibuster. Thus, expect congressional gridlock to continue, although possibly not to the same degree as over the past 12 years. Voters who are now seeking less gridlock and a less dysfunctional government may be disappointed at the pace of change.

Filibusters are meant to be dysfunctional, to be the Senate “saucer” that cools the “overheated cup” of House action by promoting extended Senate debate and deliberation. It is the main distinction between the House and Senate. Ironically, there were a number of Senate Democrats in the last Congress who supported a rules change to eliminate legislative filibusters along with the “nuclear option” advanced by then Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), which would have eliminated filibusters of administrative appointments and judicial nominations. Today, the legislative filibuster may be the Democrats’ salvation. Indeed, there may be some Senate Republicans who would consider eliminating the legislative filibuster. Where one stands depends on where one sits. However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is unlikely to permit elimination of the legislative filibuster.

Still, the nuclear option against administrative and judicial nominations continues to stand. This means that President Trump’s cabinet nominations should be confirmed unless Senate Democrats are able to convince three Republicans to join them in voting against the nominations. It also means that judicial nominations should be quickly confirmed on simple majority votes. Currently, there are over 100 unfilled judicial vacancies—including a number of critical federal circuit court seats. The federal appellate courts are important for labor and employment policy since, in our constitutional system of checks and balances, the federal circuit courts are the appellate courts that review government regulations promulgated by the executive branch and legislation passed by Congress. Apparently, the “nuclear option” was so effective in the 114th Congress that President Obama was able to quickly push through Democratic judicial nominations, and today there are only 4 of the 12 judicial circuits with majorities appointed by Republican presidents. Expect that to change and for the circuit courts to become more balanced.

Legislation, however, is still subject to the 60-vote Senate filibuster of bills passed quickly by the larger Republican majority in the House. Thus, “change” may come to Washington, but perhaps not as easily or as quickly as some voters may anticipate.

ARTICLE BY Harold P. Coxson of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C.

© 2017, Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C., All Rights Reserved.