My company isn’t unionized, so why should I care about the NLRB? Because the National Labor Relations Board has enforcement power over violations of the concerted activity provisions of the National Labor Relations Act which applies to all employers. The Board has recently used that authority to invalidate many common provisions in employment manuals, and to reverse terminations of employees for negative social media posts. More recently the NLRB has taken on Severance Agreements. The NLRB found that common provisions in Severance agreements such as confidentiality, return of company property and no solicitation of company employees violated the act.
So what’s the message: Your employment manuals and severance agreements need to be reviewed by lawyers familiar with these holdings.