Enforcement Agency Coordination Increases Employer Liability Risks

            In a move certain to increase prosecution of employers for employment-related regulatory violations, Region 13 of the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB" or the "Board"), based in Chicago, has entered into Memoranda of Understanding ("MOUs") with the Illinois Department of Labor ("IDL") and the Chicago Commission on Human Relations ("CCHR") which provide for information sharing and cross-referrals between the NLRB and these state and local agencies.  The MOUs provide that if, in the course of an investigation, one agency determines that an employer may have engaged in unlawful conduct that falls within the jurisdiction of the other agency, it may refer the matter over to the other agency for investigation.  For example, if during the course of an investigation into allegations of racial discrimination, the CCHR determines that an employee may have been terminated for engaging in protected union organizing activity, it may refer those charges to the Board for investigation.  On the other hand, if, during a Board investigation of an alleged unfair labor practice, investigators determine that the employer may have violated state wage and hour regulations, it can refer those matters to the IDL for investigation.  The MOUs also provide for cross-training of the agencies' respective staffs to recognize potential violations within the other agency's jurisdiction. 

            The interagency agreements are similar to an agreement the Board entered into last September with the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices ("OSC"), which allows the Board to refer cases involving possible citizenship status discrimination or violations of employment eligibility verification requirements to the OSC, and, conversely, allows the OSC to refer possible violations of the National Labor Relations Act to the Board.