On June 26, 2026, the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) Division of Advice released three memoranda that continue the current General Counsel's effort to unwind several of former General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo's most employer-unfriendly enforcement positions. Together, they signal a more restrained approach to Section 7 rights and Board enforcement.
For California employers, however, the news comes with an important caveat: while federal labor law may be moving in a more employer-friendly direction, California law continues to impose significant independent restrictions on many of these same provisions.
When McLaren Macomb was decided in 2023, the Board dramatically expanded its scrutiny of separation agreements, including separation agreements involving non-union employees. McLaren-Macomb found that broadly worded confidentiality and non-disparagement provisions often unlawfully chill and therefore violate employees' National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) Section 7 rights.
The new Advice memoranda suggest the Division of Advice is no longer eager to stretch McLaren Macomb beyond its facts and will interpret it quite narrowly.
In BAYADA Home Health Care, the Division of Advice concluded that a separation agreement prohibiting a former employee from soliciting the employer's employees, clients, and business relationships after employment ended was lawful. Because the...
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