Monday, April 5, 2021
Although the clock is ticking on Peter Ohr’s tenure as the NLRB’s acting general counsel, with Jennifer Abruzzo’s nomination currently pending before the Senate, Ohr continues to actively advance a pro-labor agenda. On March 31, Ohr issued a memorandum to the National Labor Relations Board’s regional staff in which he advocated for a significant expansion of the types of employee conduct that might qualify as protected, concerted activity (sometimes referred to as PCA).
Even more troubling for employers, Ohr committed to “robustly” enforce the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and “vigorously” prosecute claims alleging unlawful employer retaliation. Because protected, concerted activity is a foundational principle of labor law, its potential expansion has far-reaching implications in virtually every union and non-union workplace.