Management Memo

As expected, the Trump administration has shifted the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) into a new era marked by notable changes that will reshape the Board. The first and most significant of these changes is the termination of Board Member Gwynne Wilcox. The second is the termination of General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo. The removal of Wilcox leaves the NLRB down to two Members, a Democrat and a Republican, and without a quorum for decision making and other actions until the President fills at least one of the three current vacancies. These changes raise many questions as to what is in store for the NLRB and its ability to perform its main functions.

As discussed further below, employers should consider the impact of these decisions on pending cases before the Board, consider asserting affirmative and procedural defenses early and often, and stay aware of rapidly developing changes expected to take effect over the coming months.

On December 27, 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced an update to its isolation and quarantine guidance. Although the CDC’s update shortens both the isolation and quarantine periods, as described more fully below, the changes largely affect only asymptomatic individuals. Moreover, because local guidance may differ from the CDC’s recommendations, employers should keep in mind all applicable state and local requirements when deciding whether to amend their own rules.

Following on his promises to be “the most pro-union president you’ve ever seen,” President Joe Biden signed the Executive Order on Worker Organizing and Empowerment (“Executive Order”) on April 26, 2021, creating a task force whose purpose is to strengthen unions and make it easier for workers to unionize. Along with endorsing the Protecting the Rights to Organize Act in March, President Biden is affirmatively putting a heavy federal foot on the scale to empower unions and bolster declining union membership, both in the public and private sectors.

The Executive Order ...