The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued a ruling in Stericycle Inc., adopting a new legal standard for evaluating the lawfulness of employer work rules. This decision overturns the previous standard set by Boeing Co. (2017), later refined in LA Specialty Produce Co. (2019).
Case Background
In Stericycle, the NLRB explained that the primary problem with the Boeing and LA Specialty Produce standard was that it permitted employers to adopt overbroad work rules that chill employees’ exercise of their rights under Section 7 of the Act. Under that standard, an employer was not required to narrowly tailor its rules to promote its legitimate and substantial business interests without unnecessarily burdening employee rights. The NLRB also rejected Boeing’s categorical approach to work rules, under which certain types of rules were held to be always lawful, regardless of how they were drafted or what interests a particular employer cited in defense of the rule.
Key Changes
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- A workplace rule is now presumptively unlawful if it has a reasonable tendency to chill employees from exercising their rights.
- Employers may counter the presumption by proving the rule advances a legitimate and substantial business interest and that they’re unable to advance that interest with a more narrowly tailored rule.
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What This Means for Employers
Following this, the NLRB is in favor of case-specific consideration of work rules. Employers may need to review existing policies to their employee handbooks to ensure compliance, and tailor their workplace rules to service legitimate business interests.
This alert serves as a general summary and does not constitute legal guidance. Please contact us with any specific questions.
Fraser Trebilcock Shareholder Dave Houston has over 40 years of experience representing employers in planning, counseling, and litigating virtually all employment claims and disputes including labor relations (NLRB and MERC), wage and overtime, and employment discrimination, and negotiation of union contracts. He has authored numerous publications regarding employment issues. You can reach him at 517.377.0855 or dhouston@fraserlawfirm.com.
