Region 22-Newark Issues Complaint Against New Jersey Building Services Employer Alleging Unlawful No-Poach Provision

On September 12th, the Regional Director of Region 22-Newark issued a complaint against Planned Companies D/B/A Planned Building Services, Planned Lifestyle Services, and Planned Security Services, a janitorial, building maintenance, and concierge service provider based in Parsippany, NJ with various locations across the country.  

The complaint alleges that Planned Companies has maintained provisions in its contracts with its client buildings that interfere with, and are inherently destructive of, workers’ rights under Sections 8(a)(1) and (3) of the National Labor Relations Act. Specifically, Planned Companies restricts its client buildings from soliciting its employees to work for them in a similar job classification for a period of six months after the agreement is terminated, or from hiring employees after they leave Planned Companies’ employment. Any entity retained by the client building to replace Planned Companies is also bound by the hiring restriction. 

“Planned Companies’ prohibition, which in effect interferes with employees’ ability to be re-hired to do work in the building in which they are currently working, creates an obstacle to the current and future exercise of employee rights and hinders future bargaining” said Region 22 Regional Director Suzanne Sullivan. “Our complaint seeks to remedy this unlawful provision and ensure that employee can fully and freely exercise their rights under the National Labor Relations Act.” 

A hearing before an NLRB Administrative Law Judge has been set for November 12, 2024. On June 13, 2024, an NLRB Administrative Law Judge ruled that non-compete and non-solicitation provisions violate the National Labor Relations Act. Earlier this year, NLRB Region 9 in Cincinnati obtained a settlement involving non-compete and training repayment provisions which restricted employee mobility. 

In May of 2023, General Counsel Abruzzo issued a memo explaining her position that overbroad non-compete agreements are unlawful because they chill employees from exercising their rights under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act, which protects employees’ rights to take collective action to improve their working conditions.  

The Agency has entered into memoranda of understanding with the Federal Trade Commission, the  Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in order to advance a whole of government approach to the anticompetitive effects of restrictions on mobility. 

Established in 1935, the National Labor Relations Board is an independent federal agency that protects employees, employers, and unions from unfair labor practices and protects the right of private sector employees to join together, with or without a union, to improve wages, benefits and working conditions. The NLRB conducts hundreds of workplace elections and investigates thousands of unfair labor practice charges each year. Region 22 serves areas in New Jersey from its Regional Office in Newark.