As recently foreshadowed, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) now appears poised to weigh in on whether noncompete agreements, even those that may be legal under state law, violate the National Labor Relations Act (“Act”).
Background: NLRB GC Targets Noncompetes
On May 31, 2023, Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a memorandum stating
Late summer brings picnics, hiking, and general fun. It also brings a slew of NLRB decisions as the agency’s fiscal year comes to an end on September 30. One of the more highly-anticipated decisions concerns the lawfulness of employer work rules. On August 1, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (Board) issued a decision in
President-elect Trump’s strong base with blue collar workers helped him win yesterday’s election, despite significant union backing for Hillary Clinton during the campaign. Trump has not, however, revealed details on how he plans to address issues of interest to the unionized workforce beyond backing out of international trade treaties, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and
Citing “changing economic circumstances, particularly the recent dramatic growth in contingent employment relationships,” in Browning-Ferris Industries of California, Inc., 362 NLRB No. 186 (August 27, 2015), a 3-2 National Labor Relations Board majority (Pearce, Hirozawa, McFerran) significantly revised and broadened the standard for assessing joint-employer status under the National Labor Relations
On August 17, 2015, nearly seventeen months after a National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) Regional Director ruled that Northwestern grant-in-aid scholarship football players were considered employees under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”), the NLRB unanimously changed course and declined to exert jurisdiction over the athletes’ petition, thereby reversing the lower decision. In Northwestern University