On August 29, 2022, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a decision finding that absent special circumstances, employers may not enforce dress codes or uniform policies that interfere with employees’ right to display union insignia. 371 NLRB No. 131 (Aug. 29, 2022). The NLRB’s decision is a return to a more restrictive precedent for analyzing whether an employer’s dress code or uniform policy unlawfully interferes with employee rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).

Background

Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1945 decision in Republic Aviation Corp. v. NLRB, 324 U.S. 793, 801-803 (1945), the NLRB generally has determined that even if work rules and uniform policies are facially neutral, employers cannot prohibit the wearing of all union buttons and insignia unless the employer showed “special circumstances” for the prohibition. This standard changed during the Trump Administration, however, when the Trump Board held in Wal-Mart Stores Inc., 368 NLRB No. 146 (2019) that employers may maintain facially neutral dress codes. Under Wal-Mart, an employer only had to show “special circumstances” if its policies explicitly prohibited wearing union apparel or insignia. As a result, the “special-circumstances” test applied only when an “employer completely prohibited union insignia,” and restrictions could be deemed lawful depending on certain employer interests.

The Decision

In a 3-2 split along party lines, the Board overturned Wal-Mart and now returns to...

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