NLRB Deems Micro-Unit An Appropriate Bargaining Unit In Retail Industry

The National Labor Relations Board (the "Board" or NLRB) recently issued a pair of decisions applying its Specialty Healthcare test to determine if petitioned-for units in two large department stores were appropriate for bargaining purposes. The Board reached different outcomes in these cases, relying heavily on how the employers organized their employees for administrative purposes.

The Board ruled on July 22, 2014, that a unit sought by the union—comprising only cosmetics and fragrances employees at a Macy's store—was an appropriate unit despite the retailer's contention that the group was too narrow, and despite the decades-long presumption that the only appropriate unit in retail department store settings is a wall-to-wall unit.