A new partnership between the National Labor Relations Board and Department of Justice will increase scrutiny of employer acts that could violate the National Labor Relations Act or antitrust laws, such as misclassification of employees, outsourcing jobs, prevention of the formation of collective bargaining units, anticompetitive practices and the imposition of restrictive agreements with non-compete, non-solicitation or nondisclosure provisions.
NLRB General Counsel Jennifer A. Abruzzo and the DOJ’s Antitrust Division Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter signed a new memorandum of understanding that establishes a formal partnership between the two agencies that they said will better protect free and fair labor markets as well as workers, and help the government keep abreast of possible employer violations.
The agencies said they will maximize the enforcement of federal laws, including the NLRA, under the NLRB’s jurisdiction, as well as antitrust laws enforced by the Justice Department. They expect the agreement to lead to greater coordination in information-sharing, enforcement activity and training.
“By cooperating more closely with our colleagues in the NLRB, we can share information on potential violations of the antitrust and labor laws, collaborate on new policies and ensure that workers are protected from collusion and unlawful employer behavior,” Kanter said in a statement.
“This MOU will strengthen the federal government’s ability to effectively stop this kind of unlawful activity, and therefore to better protect workers’ right to freely associate with one another to improve their wages and working conditions and to collectively bargain through freely chosen representatives,” Abruzzo said.
