The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently published information on the following two appellate court opinions, enforcing two prior NLRB orders against an employer. They found against an employer who temporarily closed for renovations, laid off employees, and began negotiating with the Union over the effects of the temporary closure. The employer ended effects bargaining which the NLRB found to be unlawful. The NLRB found the employer unilaterally implemented some of its proposals without being at a true impasse. The NLRB also signified that the employer dealt directly with the laid-off employees when they sent them forms to waive their recall rights in exchange for severance. 

The employer later completed renovations and started recruiting for the reopening. At the time of their job fair, the company was hiring for 306 positions. The employer rejected 152 of the 176 previous bargaining unit employees who applied.

The NLRB found that the employer violated Section 8 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) because it felt the employer did not hire the employees back based on their union affiliation and because the employer refused to bargain and made unilateral changes.

If you have unionized employees and are not sure what you can do, contact Southwestern HR Consulting (SWHRC) today and we can provide you with guidance from our team of experts.

Written by | Magdalena Vigil-Tullar

HR Consultant | MBA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, CLRP

Phone: 505-270-7494 | Email: magdalena@swhrc.com

PO Box 14274 | Albuquerque, NM 87191