Overview. On August 2, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board issued its decision in Stericycle, Inc. and Teamsters Local 628, a collection of cases consolidated on the issue. The not-so-brief NLRB opinion is linked in the link below in this report.

In sum, the NLRB prescribed a new standard for evaluating whether an employer’s workplace rules or policies tend to interfere with employees’ exercise of rights under the NLRA Sections 7 and 8, being the National Labor Relations Act provisions that allows and encourages concerted conduct among employees in regard to work conditions, pay, and related matters.

Basically, the NLRB has placed employers in the crosshairs (again) for, but not limited to:

Policies that prohibit bad or negative statements about an employer.
Policies that require cooperation or to maintain positive work environment.
Policies that require an employee to speak with a manager about improper pay deductions or improper denial of rest periods.

The NLRB’s concern is on mainly “tone-related” policies (which is subjective, but, as shown below, reviewed from the employee’s perspective) that the NLRB believes “chill” employees’ right to engage in concerted action about work conditions, pay, etc. Much like we dealt with in the recent NLRB matter.
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