Dive Brief:

• The U.S. Supreme Court justices appeared ready to approve employer arbitration agreements that require workers to waive their right to pursue claims collectively, SCOTUSblog writes. The Court heard oral arguments in a trio of cases on that question Monday.
• Some of the liberal justices remained skeptical, SCOTUSblog says, but the employers will likely have the support of enough conservative justices to succeed.
• The Supreme Court heard not only from the employers involved, but also from both the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the U.S. Department of Justice (representing the administration), which are on opposing sides of the argument.

Dive Insight:

If the High Court rules in employers' favor, businesses will be able to continue requiring that workers agree to arbitration claims individually — something that has the potential to save companies millions, as collective action awards can be quite large. Litigation around the issue, however, has been active recently.

Employee advocates and the NLRB remain opposed to such agreements, arguing that they infringe on rights conferred by the National Labor Relations Act, which grants employees the ability to work together to improve working conditions.

A different law, however, protects arbitration agreements. And with the Supreme Court's makeup and its newest justice's tendency to protect arbitration, SCOTUSblog's prediction may very well be correct.