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  • Date:

    MOU between the NLRB and OSHA on Interagency Cooperation and Coordination (Oct. 31, 2023)

    Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to facilitate interagency cooperation and coordination. The MOU establishes “a process for information sharing and referrals, training, and outreach between the agencies” aimed at enhancing enforcement of the National Labor Relations Act and the Occupational Safety and Health Act. The agencies also co-released a resource on Building Safe & Healthy Workplaces that Promote Worker Voice to provide guidance to employers and employees on establishing collaborative safety and health programs in the workplace.  

    Topics:

    Collective Bargaining | Compliance & Risk Management | Faculty & Staff

  • Date:

    NLRB GC Memo re: Guidance on the NLRB’s Decision in Cemex (Nov. 2, 2023)

    Memorandum from the General Counsel (GC) of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) re: Guidance in Response to Inquiries about the Board’s Decision in Cemex Construction Materials Pacific, LLC. In the memo, the NLRB General Counsel reviews the framework adopted by the Board in its recent Cemex decision for resolving questions concerning employee representation and offers guidance on the process by which the Board will review charges of unfair labor practices while a representation question is pending to determine whether to issue a remedial bargaining order. The memo also notes situations in which an employer may forfeit or waive its option to seek a Board-conducted election that are not addressed by the Cemex decision.  

    Topics:

    Collective Bargaining | Faculty & Staff

  • Date:

    Medina v. Univ. of Utah (10th Cir. Oct. 19, 2023)

    Order and Judgment affirming dismissal. Plaintiff, the director of BioKids, the University of Utah School of Biological Sciences (SBS) childcare center, brought procedural due process, contract, and state-law retaliation claims against the SBS Director and the University after her employment was (1) terminated through a Reduction in Force (RIF) when the School transferred management of BioKids to the University’s Center for Child & Family Resources as operational needs changed during the coronavirus pandemic, and then (2) reinstated when the arrangement expired. In affirming summary judgment in favor of the University, the Tenth Circuit held that plaintiff waived her procedural due process claim by not exercising her appeal rights under the University’s RIF policy. Her breach of contract claim failed because the RIF policy under which she was terminated was itself a part of her employment contract with the University. Her state-law retaliation claim failed because (1) rather than expressing concern that a planned expansion in BioKids’ capacity would violate state licensing requirements she succeeded in securing a variance from the Utah Department of Health to maintain the center’s compliance, and (2) she pointed to no evidence suggesting that she made a good faith report to the University that she anticipated any regulatory violation.   

    Topics:

    Constitutional Issues | Contracts | Due Process | Employment Separation, RIFs, ERIPs & Retrenchment | Faculty & Staff

  • Date:

    NLRB Final Rule on Standard for Determining Joint Employer Status (Oct. 27, 2023)

    National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Final Rule on the Standard for Determining Joint Employer Status. Under the new standard, an entity may be considered a joint employer if each entity has an employment relationship with the employee and if the entities share or codetermine one or more of the employee’s essential terms and conditions of employment, defined as “(1) wages, benefits, and other compensation; (2) hours of work and scheduling; (3) the assignment of duties to be performed; (4) the supervision of the performance of duties; (5) work rules and directions governing the manner, means, and methods of the performance of duties and the grounds for discipline; (6) the tenure of employment, including hiring and discharge; and (7) working conditions related to safety and health of employees.” The NLRB also released a Fact Sheet on the Final Rule. The Final Rule becomes effective on December 26, 2023.   

    Topics:

    Collective Bargaining | Faculty & Staff

  • Date:

    DHS NPRM on H-1B Requirements and F-1 Flexibility (Oct. 23, 2023)

    U.S. Department of Homeland Security Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) Modernizing H-1B Requirements, Providing Flexibility in the F-1 Program, and Program Improvements Affecting Other Nonimmigrant Workers. The proposed regulations would “streamline requirements for the H-1B program by: (1) revising the regulatory definition and criteria for a ‘specialty occupation’; (2) clarifying that ‘normally’ does not mean ‘always’ within the criteria for a specialty occupation; and (3) clarifying that a position may allow a range of degrees, although there must be a direct relationship between the required degree field(s) and the duties of the position.” The regulations would also “change the definition of ‘nonprofit research organization’ and ‘governmental research organization’ by replacing ‘primarily engaged’ and ‘primary mission’ to ‘fundamental activity’ to permit a nonprofit entity or governmental research organization that conducts research as a fundamental activity … to meet the definition of a nonprofit research entity.” They would also provide greater flexibility with automatic extension for F-1 visa holders who seek to change their status to H-1B.   

    Topics:

    Faculty & Staff | Immigration | International Students

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