It has been an interesting year on the labor-law front due to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) lacking a quorum since President Donald Trump terminated a sitting member upon taking office in January. 

Eleven months later, the NLRB now has a sufficient number of confirmed members to become active once again. According to Bloomberg Law:

By a 53-43 vote, senators [on December 18th] approved a package of nominees including James Murphy and Scott Mayer as NLRB members and Crystal Carey as NLRB general counsel. The board will look to hit the ground running after almost 11 months without a quorum to clear the backlog of cases that have built up and pursue a more employer-friendly policy agenda.

Mayer most recently worked as chief labor counsel at Boeing but has also worked as a corporate labor attorney for MGM Resorts International, Intercontinental Hotels Group, and Aramark. Murphy is a career NLRB staffer, having served as an attorney for dozens of board members and chief counsel for Harry Johnson and Marvin Kaplan.

The NLRB has five members who issue rulings that govern American labor law. However, in order to issue decisions, it needs at least three members, all of whom must be confirmed by the Senate. Because the agency has lacked a quorum since the advent of the current administration, much of the precedent issued by the NLRB under the administration of former President Joseph Biden has remained intact. This includes rulings that make it easier for unions to organize and represent workers, decisions that allow employees engaged in “protected activity” to be aggressive in confronting management, and cases providing for expanded remedies against employers for labor law violations.

The newly constituted NLRB will likely have a much different view of these and other labor law issues impacting virtually every company in America. For those looking for some change on this front, Christmas has come a bit early this year. Happy Holidays.