Employers Can Discipline Workers Before Bargaining: NLRB (2)

The National Labor Relations Board has overturned agency precedent in a decision that allows employers to impose serious discipline on an employee ahead of reaching a collective bargaining agreement with a newly formed union.

The pre-discipline bargaining obligation conflicts with U.S. Supreme Court interpretations of labor law and “imposed a complicated and burdensome bargaining scheme that was irreconcilable with the general body of law governing” bargaining practices, the NLRB said in a statement Tuesday.

The decision means that management at newly unionized businesses can carry out discipline during the pre-contract phase without having to notify or bargain with the union. ...