Opinion ID: 3052717
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Denial of Overtime

Text: The Union also challenges the Board’s conclusion that the limitation on the returning employees’ overtime opportunities during the four-week retraining period did not violate the NLRA. We first consider whether substantial evidence supported the Board’s conclusion that the retraining period and overtime policy was not inherently destructive of the employees’ rights. We conclude that there was substantial evidence to support the conclusion that the overtime policy had only a minimal effect on the rights of the employees. [10] The four-week period was temporary, and after the period ended the returning workers were given the same overtime opportunities as all employees. The restrictions on overtime were the only limitations placed on the returning employees. Thus the four-week retraining period was unlikely FRESH FRUIT AND VEGETABLE WORKERS v. NLRB 11273 to have any “far reaching effects” or “creat[e] visible and continuing obstacles to the future exercise of employee rights” because the limitations were minimal and of short duration. See Portland Willamette, 534 F.2d at 1334. Furthermore, it was reasonable for the Board to conclude that it was unlikely, in light of the length of the lockout, that the returning employees would perceive the retraining period and the limitations on overtime as punishment for exercising their labor rights. After fourteen years of being locked out of Bud Antle, the employees could logically view the retraining and overtime limitations as an ordinary part of their reinstatement and not as an attempt to severely discourage or punish union membership or striking. See id. The Union also challenges the Board’s determination that the company had a substantial and legitimate business justification for curtailing the employees’ overtime during this period. The Board concluded that the changes in operations that occurred during the fourteen-year period justified the retraining period for two reasons. First, the training period was necessary to update the employees on the procedures used in the coolers and to assess the returning employees’ abilities to perform the new tasks. Second, new employees are generally not as adept as existing employees and because overtime is paid at a premium, the company had a significant business interest in determining that the returning employees could perform that work quickly and efficiently. We uphold the Board’s conclusions because they are supported by substantial evidence. As discussed above, although much of the job was similar in 2004 to what it was in 1989, significant changes had occurred that required a new system of handling the vegetables. Many of these changes appear to be specific to the company, not necessarily to the industry generally. It was not unreasonable, then, for the returning employees to be treated like new employees and given a retraining period after four11274 FRESH FRUIT AND VEGETABLE WORKERS v. NLRB teen years out of service with the company. Furthermore, given the premium at which overtime is paid, the employer would reasonably wish to ensure that the work was performed as efficiently as possible. This interest could plausibly be protected by instituting limits on overtime while the employer determined the ability levels of its returning employees. [11] The Union makes two main arguments challenging the Board majority. First, the Union argues that the company generally may not assume that a returning employee is unskilled at performing his or her duties. Although a company may not normally presume that a returning striker cannot perform the job upon return, in this case such a presumption is entirely logical. Cf. Lehigh Metal Fabricators, Inc., 267 N.L.R.B. 568 (1983) (refusing to allow a company to presume that a returning employee could not perform relevant job duties after a sixty-seven-day strike). It was not unreasonable for the Board to conclude that after fourteen years the returning employees would need retraining to bring them up to speed on the new technology and organization. The Union also argues that the fact that the returning employees were permitted to perform some overtime during their training establishes that the company’s business justification was pretextual. The Board rejected the Union’s argument because the employer treated all new employees the same, regardless of union affiliation. Additionally, the employees were given full overtime rights as soon as they showed their true abilities. Thus, the Board concluded that the business justification was unlikely to be a pretext for a prejudicial motive. In light of our deferential standard of review, we cannot say that the Board was wrong in its conclusion that the company established a legitimate business justification. We leave it to the Board to strike a balance between the asserted business justifications and the invasion of employee rights and in this case we will not disturb the Board’s decision. See Fleetwood Trailer Co., 389 U.S. at 378. FRESH FRUIT AND VEGETABLE WORKERS v. NLRB 11275