National Labor Relations Board Issues Yet Another Decision Finding An Employer's Work Rules Overly Broad

The National Labor Relations Board ("Board") recently issued a decision that serves as a reminder for both union and non-union employers that the Board continues to take an aggressive stance on seemingly innocuous employment policies that the Board believes may chill an employee's exercise of his or her Section 7 rights under the National Labor Relations Act (the "Act").

The Employer in Component Bar Products, Inc., 364 NLRB No. 140 (Nov. 8, 2016), maintained a personal conduct and disciplinary action policy that prohibited, among other things: (1) insubordination or other disrespectful conduct; and (2) boisterous or disruptive activity in the workplace. The Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ"), applying the test set out in Lutheran Heritage Village-Livonia, 343 NLRB 646 (2004), found that these work rules were facially unlawful because employees would reasonably construe these rules to prohibit the exercise of their Section 7 rights under the Act.