The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which enforces employees' workplace rights, is seeing a trend of workers advocating for racial justice and safety, Jennifer Abruzzo, the NLRB general counsel, told attendees at SHRM's Employment Law & Compliance Conference in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 27.
In the last few years, there have been more health and safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic and more concerns over racial justice and social justice, Abruzzo said. One example of that is workers who brought complaints about being fired for wearing Black Lives Matters logos.
"We are seeing a lot more workers feeling empowered to engage with their employers about what they consider substandard wages or benefits," Abruzzo noted. Employees "are now saying, 'We matter, and if we don't like what's going on in our workplace we're going to speak up,' " with or without a union.
Another trend is gig workers being misclassified as independent contractors.
"We are seeing more gig work and more virtual work, and the question becomes are they an employee versus an independent contractor," Abruzzo said. "It is critical for workers that they are classified appropriately. Sometimes we have seen where there is a misclassification, whether intentional or not, and that's really affecting workers and the rights that they have."
Also speaking at the conference, NLRB Chairman Lauren McFerran noted three trends in recent cases under the current board: disputes over employees wearing...
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