NLRB Defines New Standard for Determining Appropriate Bargaining Units

Marking the end of Chairman Wilma Liebman's term, the National Labor Relations Board issued three significant decisions at the end of August that overturn long-standing Board precedent. In what may be the most significant of the three, a decision involving the healthcare industry, the Board paved the way for the proliferation of bargaining units by overruling its 1991 decision in Park Manor Care Center, 305 NLRB 872 (1991), and determining that certified nursing assistants ("CNAs") comprise an appropriate stand-alone bargaining unit. Although it involved a nursing home, the Board's decision is not limited to the healthcare industry and fundamentally changes the standard for determining appropriate bargaining units applicable to all employers.