NLRB Overturns 40-Year-Old Precedent That Allowed Employers to Warn Employees Organizing Will Change Workplace Dynamic
On November 8, 2024, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that t elling employees unionization could impact their relationship with their employer may violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) , overturning forty-year-old Board precedent that had held such statements did not violate the Act. Quick Hits The NLRB ruled that employers may violate the NLRA when they tell employees that potential unionization may strip them of their ability to bring issues directly to their employers. The ruling overturns a forty-year-old precedent that allowed businesses to tell employees that the workplace dynamic may change as a result of unionization. Among other claims, the case involved alleged threats by a supervisor that unionization would result in the loss of employees’ ability to address issues with their managers on an individual basis. The NLRB adopted an administrative law judge’s (ALJ) finding that such statements about the impact of unionization on the employees’ abil...