Compliance Stuff

At a Glance For nearly 50 years, the Supreme Court’s decision in  NLRB v. Gissel Packing Co . governed when the Board could issue a bargaining order despite a union’s election loss. In 2023, the Board departed from  Gissel  in  Cemex  by making bargaining orders the default remedy when employer unfair labor practices require setting aside an election. As the first federal court of appeals to review a  Cemex  bargaining order, the Sixth Circuit denied enforcement 2-1 on the ground that  Cemex  was an improper exercise of the Board’s adjudicatory authority. In  Brown-Forman v. NLRB , the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit became the first federal circuit court to review the National Labor Relations Board’s recent  Cemex  decision. The court found the Board engaged in improper rulemaking when it altered decades of precedent by mandating a bargaining order whenever the employer commits unfair labor practices (ULPs) that re...

In its 2026 session, the Maryland General Assembly passed several significant pieces of legislation that, if enacted, will impact private employers in Maryland, including one that streamlines the process for bringing civil actions under county discrimination laws, several that bolster employee labor rights, and other bills that are more specific to a particular industry or public employees. 00:00 11:13 Quick Hits SB694  would establish that filing a complaint with the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights satisfies the administrative prerequisites for bringing a civil action under county discrimination laws. SB831 /HB1480 would establish new civil penalties for child labor violations, prohibit the formation of certain workplace groups to address working conditions, and conditionally create a private sector state labor board. SB417 /HB45 would prohibit employers from conducting mandatory meetings on religious or political matters, which includes union organizing matters (e.g., “captiv...

At a Glance The Policy Week in Review, prepared by Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute (WPI), sets forth WPI’s updates on federal legislation, regulations, and congressional activity affecting the workplace. Senate Passes Partial DHS Funding Legislation; House Rejects It; DHS Shutdown Continues   After a shutdown lasting over a month (41 days) at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ensuing failed negotiations in the Senate to reach consensus on legislation to fund the Department over demands for reforms to immigration enforcement, the Senate finally voted early this morning to pass a bill to partially fund the DHS. The deal funds most of DHS except for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol. The legislation shifted over to the House for consideration where it was rejected this afternoon by House conservatives who want full-year ICE and CBP funding, plus voter-ID requirements added to the bill. Moments later, amid mounting TSA pressures and long...