General Counsel Abruzzo Issues Memo on Harmonizing the NLRA and EEO Laws

Today, NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a memo to all field offices on the harmonization of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and federal equal employment opportunity (EEO) laws.

The memorandum emphasizes the importance of complying with all requirements of the NLRA and the EEO laws and offers suggestions in certain key areas on how to effectuate compliance and ensure that employees receive full protections under the laws. Specifically, it addresses and provides examples for complying with both bodies of law in three key areas—workplace civility rules, investigative confidentiality policies, and employee speech or conduct in the context of NLRA-protected activity that could potentially implicate federal EEO law.

“In workplaces across the country, the NLRA and the EEO laws routinely operate in harmony, often in furtherance of shared goals and with reliance on shared principles. Such harmonization is possible because neither body of law sets forth absolutes in areas of potential overlap. Each leaves space for the other to operate,” said General Counsel Abruzzo. “Regulated parties thus can and must understand and comply with both sets of laws. Importantly, they should not purport to invoke their obligations under one to avoid their responsibilities under the other.”