The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) released a memorandum to all NLRB regional directors advising them of a new reporting mechanism for unfair labor practices. 

Effective July 1, 2016, all complaints of unfair labor practices will be documented and stored in a federal database. However, the NLRB will only be reporting unfair labor practices in cases in which the regional director issues a complaint, not every reported violation. In other words, no information will be sent to the federal database if an employer settles or resolves an unfair labor practice before a complaint is issued.

The reporting mechanism is in light of the Fair Pay and Safe Work Executive Order signed on July 31, 2014 by President Obama. Executive Order 13673 requires reporting of labor violations under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) as well as several other federal labor laws, executive orders, and equivalent state laws.

The purpose of reporting the information is to assist contracting agencies in assessing the labor law compliance of companies currently working on (or that bid on) federal contracts valued at more than $500,000. Within the NLRB, a newly appointed  Labor Compliance Advisor, will assess whether contractors’ labor law violations should be classified as serious, repeated, willful, or pervasive. Look out for more guidance on this topic to be issued by the Department of Labor in fall of 2016.  

Should you have any questions about how this could impact your business, please contact: 

• Caroline J. Berdzik (609.986.1314; cberdzik@goldbergsegalla.com)
• Christopher P. Maugans (716.710.5825; cmaugans@goldbergsegalla.com) 
• Or another member of the Goldberg Segalla Employment and Labor Practice Group.