Higher Bonuses for Nonunion Employees an Unfair Labor Practice

In a case that may have significance for readers who have facilities that are partially unionized, the National Labor Relations Board has recently criticized an employer awarding its nonunion employees double the bonuses received by union staff. After having negotiated a larger cents‐per‐hour pay increase for the union than it had given to its nonrepresented employees, the employer decided to give an end‐of‐the‐year bonus of $1,000 to nonunion employees and $500 to union represented employees. The rationale was to equalize the total yearly compensation for both groups.