NLRB Imposes Strict New Limits On Employer Work-Rules

INTRODUCTION

On 2 August 2023, a divided National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) held in Stericycle¹ that employers violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA or Act) when they issue facially neutral work-rules,² such as a no-camera policy in the workplace, that a "reasonable employee," viewed through the lens of economic dependence on their employer, could believe infringes on their Section 7 rights.

The NLRB's decision in Stericycle, which was split along partisan lines, overturned a Trump-era precedent³ that divided employer work-rules into three categories—universally legal, conditionally legal, and uniformly illegal under the NLRA—that were relatively straightforward for employers to understand and the Board, by its own admission, to adjudicate. Stericycle marks a return to the Obama-era Board approach that resulted in frequent challenges to employee policies.