Dive Brief:
- Employers can expect to see an increase in National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rulings in the coming months, the board’s chair told attendees at a Sept. 14 conference. “For sure, we’re going to be very, very busy as an agency,” said Philip A. Miscimarra, who has declined the offer of a second term and will leave the Board in December.
- Every time a board member’s term ends, it’s important for NLRB to issue rulings on “as many cases as possible” that the departing member has participated in, Miscimarra said. If it doesn’t, those cases must be reheard and that can delay rulings up to four years, he told attendees at Epstein Becker & Green’s annual workforce management briefing in New York.
- Miscimarra didn’t discuss which cases that push might include, but NLRB maintains a webpage listing cases of interest, including an unfair labor practice charge against Tesla.
Dive Insight:
Employers will certainly want to keep an eye on NLRB in the coming weeks, but Miscimarra’s promise may be a bit “ambitious,” according to David W. Garland, chair of the Epstein Becker’s National Labor and Employment Steering Committee and member of the firm’s Board of Directors.
“There’s no doubt that he’s committed and will work tirelessly to do that,” Garland said, adding that he believes Miscimarra is dedicated to the board. But it's unclear whether he'll be able to carry out that plan, or what cases it might involve, Garland said. “We’re just going to have to wait and see.”
The NLRB is at the center of a number of HR's most contentious labor law issues, including joint employment and worker misclassification. The wait continues — but perhaps now it won't seem as long.
