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Category Archives: Labor Representation

New York Passes Three New Laws in Support of Workers’ Rights

On September 14, 2023, Governor Kathy Hochul signed three pieces of legislation into law, furthering strengthening workers’ rights in New York State. Two of the newly enacted laws require employees to be notified of their eligibility for certain benefits in the event that they are unemployed and one law protects the personal account information of…

New York State Bans Mandatory Anti-Union Meetings

A new law in New York State bars employers from terminating employees that refuse to attend captive audience meetings. The law was signed by Governor Kathy Hochul on September 6, 2023, and took immediate effect. Captive audience meetings are mandatory meetings conducted by employers, for the purpose of discouraging their employees from forming or joining…

NLRB General Counsel: Non-Competes Violate the NLRA

Non-compete agreements, whether stand-alone or in employment or severance agreements, almost always violate the National Labor Relations Act, according to the National Labor Relations Board General Counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo. A non-compete is a contractual term between an employer and a worker that goes into effect once the employee stops working for that employer. It attempts…

NLRB Ends Broad Confidentiality in Severance Agreements

On February 21, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board decided in McLaren Macomb that Employers violate federal labor law if they offer severance agreements that include broad confidentiality clauses and/or non-disparagement clauses. Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act protects workers’ right to engage in “concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or…

Navigating Union Access on Employer Property

Levy Ratner Associate Alek Felstiner, along with law clerk Natalie Grieco, recently published an article examining National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo’s Advice Memo in which she indicates that the NLRB may restore union access to employer property that is open to the public. The memo comes after two 2019 Board decisions which…

New NLRB Guidance on Immigrant Worker Protections and Rights

On May 2, 2022, National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo released new guidance to ensure immigrant workers are protected under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to freely exercise their rights to organize and take action to improve their working conditions. The guidance instructs regional NLRB offices to distribute information and advise witnesses…