- Posts by Steven M. SwirskyBoard of Directors / Member of the Firm
Attorney Steve Swirsky has devoted his practice almost exclusively to advising and representing employers in complex labor relations matters and litigation. He represents clients in collective bargaining and proceedings ...
The National Labor Relations Board’s top lawyer, Jennifer Abruzzo, issued a General Counsel memo today instructing the Labor Board’s Regional Directors of her position that noncompete clauses for employees protected by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) (i.e., nonmanagerial and nonsupervisory employees) in employment contracts and severance agreements violate federal labor law except in limited circumstances. The memo, while not law, outlines her legal theory which she will present to the National Labor Relations Board, which makes law primarily through adjudication of unfair labor practice cases. The memo instructs the agency’s field offices of the position that the General Counsel is instructing them to take when investigating unfair labor practice charges claiming that such clauses interfere with employees’ rights under the NLRA.
On February 21, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) continued its aggressive application of the National Labor Relations Act (“Act” or “NLRA”) to workplaces without union representation and lessened the value of severance agreements for all employers by finding it unlawful for an employer to merely proffer a severance agreement that includes broad non-disparagement and confidentiality provisions to an employee. In McLaren Macomb, the Board held that a severance agreement that contains a confidentiality clause and a non-disparagement clause was unlawful because, in the Board’s view, these provisions impermissibly infringe on employees’ rights under the Act. Specifically, the Board found that these two provisions limit employees’ ability to discuss their wages, hours, and working conditions (which could include disparaging remarks) with other employees, prevent employees from assisting other employees seeking assistance, and hinder employees themselves from seeking assistance from the NLRB, unions, and other outside organizations.
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Recent Updates
- Spilling Secrets Podcast: Can FTC’s Non-Compete Ban Survive Without Chevron Deference?
- Teeing-Up a Circuit Split on the FTC’s Noncompete Rule: Pennsylvania Judge Diametrically Opposes Earlier Decision by Texas Judge
- Pennsylvania Passes Law Limiting Use of Noncompetes for Health Care Practitioners
- Plaintiffs in Ryan Case Seek Nationwide Injunction of FTC Noncompete Rule; U.S. Chamber of Commerce Also Seeks Associational Standing
- Federal Court Denies Plaintiffs’ Motion for Reconsideration Seeking Expanded Scope of Injunction Staying the FTC’s Noncompete Rule