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After nearly a year, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) finally has a quorum again. That's good news because it means the agency can start issuing rulings again. The bad news? According to a recent report from Bloomberg Law (NLRB Faces Hefty Case Backlog as New Members Formally Join Board), the NLRB has had numerous cases stack up while things were in limbo last year.
The report notes:
Although the agency continued to function through 2025, partially through a series of delegations, the board's inability to decide cases has generated an enormous backlog of cases. Murphy said in his Senate nomination hearing—more than three months ago—that the backlog had reached 500 cases.
That's a lot of cases. The NLRB — including its new General Counsel, Crystal Carey — may consider taking a page out of former NLRB General Counsel Peter Robb's playbook to help ensure the backlog doesn't grow even further. Under Robb, the NLRB drastically reduced case processing times by enforcing strict deadlines on all parties to proceedings, among other tools. Case processing times fell dramatically after Robb left the post.
In addition to the backlog, the NLRB has a lot of work to do in terms of reviewing — and potentially overruling — significant precedent issued by the last administration. From decisions making it easier for unions to gain representational rights over a workforce, to expanded remedies being sought against employers, to stricter requirements related to waiver language in labor agreements to scrutiny of everyday employment policies and practices (e.g., severance agreements), it is likely we'll see a host of changes in terms of how the agency's views on these and other issues. In fact, we should expect General Counsel Carey to issue some memos and guidance soon in terms of what she sees as the priorities for change.
It's a new year and change is on the horizon. Stay tuned — we'll keep you posted on all the critical labor law developments coming down the pike.
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