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Labor Relations During a Pandemic: Employer Duties Under the NLRA in the Wake of COVID-19
The COVID-19 outbreak implicates many different laws for employers to consider as they develop and refine their responses to rapidly changing circumstances.
The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) is just one of these laws. Some employer obligations under the NLRA are limited to unionized workforces, but aspects of the NLRA apply to all employers. As the COVID-19 outbreak has spread across the globe many issues are arising that implicate the NLRA—including union requests for information and/or workplace health and safety inspections, union demands to bargain over new employer policies, employees refusing assignments because of fear of exposure, and questions about requiring confidentiality of certain information related to exposure.
The appropriate responses to these issues depend on a number of factors, including collective bargaining agreement provisions, the industry involved, and potentially applicable state laws. Healthcare employers may require different responses than non-healthcare employers. Here, we will focus on issues arising under the NLRA.