For many nonunion employers, mere reference to the National Labor Relations Act can be seen as an invitation to tune out until the discussion turns back to "employment law." Contrary to popular belief, however, "labor" does not equate to "union," and the law applies to most private-sector businesses regardless of whether a union is present. Indeed, the cornerstone of the NLRA, Section 7, guarantees employees the right to engage in concerted activity for mutual aid and protection regardless of whether they are represented or seek to be represented by a union. 29 U.S.C. 157. An employer's denial of these rights poses potentially serious monetary and other consequences.

President Obama's National Labor Relations Board has been active in finding new and creative contexts to apply the broad language of Section 7 in nonunion settings, even as the level of private-sector unionization continues to decrease. Although the viability of recent board decisions has been called into question by court decisions invalidating recent appointments of some members — Noel Canning v. NLRB, 705 F.3d 490 (D.C. Cir. 2013), certiorari granted, No. 12-1281 (U.S. June 24, 2013), petition for reh'g filed July 1, 2013 (3d Cir.); and NLRB v. New Vista Nursing and Rehabilitation, No. 11-3440 et al. (3d Cir. May 16, 2013) — many of the recent expansive decisions issued by the board affect nonunion workplaces. This article describes some of those developments affecting nonunion employers and identifies "best practices" for complying with these decisions.

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