Advisories

Labor Board Clarifies Definition of “Supervisors” Unable To Unionize

October 2006

In three major decisions, the National Labor Relations Board (Board) has clarified when employees will be considered “supervisors” under the National Labor Relations Act (Act). As management representatives, supervisors have no right to vote in union elections or be represented by a union, and can be legally fired for encouraging others to support a union. It is thus critically important that employers be able to identify accurately who is and is not a supervisor under the Act.

Although unions have denounced these decisions as an attack on worker rights, the Board adopted a realistic, fact-specific approach to what it means to be a supervisor. While two of the three decisions involved health care employers, making it easier for hospitals to treat some charge nurses as supervisors, the factors cited by the Board apply to all types of workplaces.