The National Labor Relations Board has been busy this holiday season. In the last few weeks, the Board has pushed ahead with its quickie election rules and changed the analysis it uses to determine whether to assert jurisdiction over faculty at religious institutions of higher education, and whether faculty members are managerial employees with a protected right to unionize. In addition, the Board ruled earlier this month that employers must generally permit employees to use company email systems for a variety of protected labor law activity, including union organizing. Then, last week, the Labor Board issued complaints in nearly 50 unfair labor practice cases, alleging that franchisor McDonalds Corporation is a joint employer with its franchisees and, therefore, responsible for alleged unfair labor practice.
In the coming weeks, we will issue a series of blog posts providing more information on these labor board actions and suggesting action steps for employers to consider in response to these significant changes in the labor law.