NLRB Rulings Regarding Supervisors Provide Clarity and Controversy

But the decisions did not dramatically redraw the lines for determining which workers are considered supervisors and which are not. Instead, they provided guidance that will be helpful to employers and unions alike in determining the status of workers whose classification falls into the gray area between supervisor and employee. The analysis remains highly fact-specific and appears unlikely to create the dramatic effects predicted.

Some fundamental facts illustrate that the Board's decisions did not usher in sweeping changes. Among the three companion cases considered, the Board classified disputed employees as supervisors in just one (Oakwood Healthcare, Inc.). In that one case, the NLRB concluded that 12 full-time charge nurses were supervisors. It found that 112 other nurses that rotated in the same job title were not supervisors. It will take a while before the practical impact of these decisions is completely clear, but two things are already certain. First, the decisions add predictability to the classification question regarding some workers; and second, the issue will continue to be a flashpoint for controversy.