Federal labor board claims California's new law could disrupt HR compliance for private employers
A legal clash is underway as the National Labor Relations Board sues California over a new law that could reshape private sector labor relations in the state.
On October 15, 2025, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) filed a complaint in federal court against the State of California and its Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), challenging Assembly Bill 288. The law, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on September 30, 2025, amends the California Labor Code to allow PERB to regulate private sector labor relations if certain federal protections under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) are repealed, narrowed, or their enforcement is enjoined in a case involving a specific worker.
The NLRB’s complaint alleges that AB 288 permits PERB to step in if the NLRB is deemed by California to have “expressly or impliedly ceded jurisdiction.” This could occur due to processing delays, lack of quorum, injunctions in particular cases, or a Supreme Court ruling affecting the tenure protections of NLRB members. In such cases, PERB could enforce collective bargaining agreements, resolve labor disputes, and certify bargaining representatives—functions that the NLRB says are reserved for itself under federal law.
According to the complaint, the NLRB argues that AB 288 creates a parallel regulatory system that undermines the federal labor policy Congress designed to be national in scope....
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