NLRB and DOJ Partner to Address Worker Misclassification and Other Unfair Labor Practices
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) signed a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) creating a partnership between the two agencies to “protect free and fair labor markets and ensure that workers can freely exercise their rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).”
The Agencies’ partnership will focus on protecting workers who have been harmed or may be at risk of being harmed as a result of conduct designed to: (1) evade legal obligations and accountability, such as misclassifying employees; (2) interfere with the rights of workers to obtain fair market compensation and collectively bargain (e.g., through labor market concentration/labor monopsony or other anticompetitive practices); and (3) impose restrictive agreements or workplace rules, such as noncompete, nonsolicitation, and nondisclosure provisions.
The Agencies note that through greater coordination in information sharing, enforcement activity, and training, they will maximize the enforcement of federal laws, including the NLRA, under the NLRB’s jurisdiction and the antitrust laws enforced by DOJ’s Antitrust Division. In particular, this MOU will allow the Agencies to refer cases of potentially illegal activity to each other, as appropriate, and to coordinate on enforcement.
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