CareOne at New Milford, a New Jersey nursing home, is asking the D.C. Circuit to overturn a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision that found it unlawfully cut the work hours of unionized employees from 40 hours a week to 37.5 hours a week, arguing the NLRB misapplied the facts and failed to follow proper legal standards. The employees are represented by 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers’ East, whose attorneys in the case are Jessica Harris and William Massey of Gladstein, Reif & Meginniss, LLP.
In its brief, CareOne claims the Board wrongly assumed that a 40-hour workweek was the status quo for full-time employees, when the company’s policy defined full-time work as 37.5 hours or more per week. The facility contends that the NLRB’s general counsel and the union failed to prove that a 40-hour schedule was standard, relying instead on what it called a “cherry-picked” set of payroll records.
The D.C. Circuit will now determine whether the NLRB properly evaluated the evidence and applied the law in concluding that the nursing home violated federal labor law.