Several decisions that will affect employers were issued by the United States Supreme Court.  Please see below.  We hope you find these informative and beneficial. 

National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning: NLRB Appointments Rejected 

• The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously concluded that President Obama's "recess" appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) were invalid. The case is important for employers because it calls into question the validity of several key NLRB decisions issued during the time that it did not have a validly composed board (from January 4, 2012, to August 3, 2013). The decisions applied to employers in both union and nonunion settings and involved issues relating to workplace investigations, confidentiality provisions, discipline of employees for social media usage and employer handbook policies, among other topics.

Sandifer v. U.S. Steel Corp.: Time Spent Changing Clothes Not Compensable

• The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that unionized steelworkers were not entitled to compensation for time spent putting on and taking off certain flame-retardant safety gear required for their job. The case is limited in scope to union workplaces with collective bargaining agreements that govern whether time spent changing clothes at the beginning or end of a workday will be compensated.

Harris v. Quinn: Union Fees Knocked Down in Limited Decision

• The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that compulsory union dues violated a group of workers' First Amendment free speech rights. The Court's ruling is limited because the Court in this case did not consider the Illinois state homecare workers to be "full-fledged public employees." Instead, the Court distinguished them as "partial public employees." The Court declined to overturn a nearly 40-year-old Supreme Court decision which held that unions can collect dues from public-sector employees without violating the First Amendment so long as the dues are used for collective bargaining and other activities germane to the union's duties as a collective bargaining representative.

Lawson v. FMR LLC: Court Extends Federal Whistleblower Protections

• The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the whistleblower protections of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) extend to employees of private-sector companies that contract and subcontract with public-sector companies.