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- Section 7 protects collective choice and action
- Section 8 defines unfair labor practices
- Representation cases and unfair-labor-practice cases differ
- Coverage focuses on much of the private sector
- The NLRA is not a general wage or discrimination code
- Federal preemption leaves a defined state-law boundary
- Current status in 2026
- Sources
Key Facts
- Federal level: Section 7 of the NLRA protects covered employees’ rights to organize, bargain collectively, act together for mutual aid or protection, and refrain from those activities.
- Federal level: The Act regulates unfair labor practices by employers and labor organizations, including specified interference, discrimination, coercion, and bargaining conduct.
- Federal level: Most covered rights apply in union and nonunion workplaces, because protected concerted activity does not require an existing union.
- Federal level: The NLRA excludes several groups, including supervisors, independent contractors, agricultural laborers, domestic workers, and most public-sector employees.
- Federal and state: Federal labor-law preemption can restrict state regulation of conduct protected or prohibited by the NLRA, but states retain authority over many generally applicable employment standards.
The National Labor Relations Act, or NLRA, is the central federal statute governing collective workplace rights and labor-management relations in much of the private sector. Congress enacted it in 1935, and later amendments reshaped both employee rights and union obligations.
The National Labor Relations Board administers the Act. The agency conducts representation proceedings and investigates and remedies unfair labor practices, while federal courts review or enforce Board orders under the statutory framework.
Section 7 protects collective choice and action
Section 7 protects covered employees’ rights to form, join, or assist labor organizations; bargain collectively through chosen representatives; and engage in other concerted activities for collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection. It also protects the right to refrain from those activities, subject to the Act’s lawful union-security provisions.
Concerted activity generally involves employees acting together, or one employee acting on group authority or seeking group action, about workplace concerns. Examples can include jointly raising issues about pay, schedules, safety, staffing, or other working conditions.
These protections are not limited to union members. Employees in a nonunion workplace can have Section 7 rights when they act together concerning terms and conditions of employment.
Not every workplace complaint or collective tactic is protected. The activity must fall within the statute, and protection can be lost because of the objective, means, timing, or serious misconduct involved.
Section 8 defines unfair labor practices
Employer unfair labor practices include interfering with or coercing employees in Section 7 rights, dominating or unlawfully supporting a labor organization, discriminating to encourage or discourage union membership, retaliating for Board participation, and refusing to bargain collectively with a duly recognized representative.
Union unfair labor practices include restraining or coercing employees in protected rights, causing prohibited employer discrimination, refusing to bargain, and engaging in specified forms of secondary pressure, jurisdictional conduct, or prohibited recognition activity.
The Act does not make every hard bargaining position unlawful. It generally requires good-faith bargaining over wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment, but it does not compel either side to agree to a proposal or make a concession.
Representation cases and unfair-labor-practice cases differ
In a representation case, the NLRB determines an appropriate bargaining unit, resolves eligibility questions, conducts an election when required, and may certify a representative. Employees may also petition concerning whether an incumbent union should continue to represent the unit.
An unfair-labor-practice case begins with a charge filed in an NLRB regional office. Regional staff investigate; if the evidence and law support a complaint and the matter is not settled, an administrative law judge can hold a hearing. The Board reviews rulings, and a federal court of appeals may review or enforce the final order.
A charge generally must be filed and served within six months of the unfair labor practice. Remedies are designed primarily to restore the situation the unlawful conduct disrupted and can include cease-and-desist orders, notices, reinstatement, back pay, bargaining orders, or other relief suited to the violation.
Coverage focuses on much of the private sector
The Board’s statutory jurisdiction concerns private-sector employers affecting interstate commerce, and the agency uses monetary jurisdictional standards to decide when it will exercise that authority. In practical terms, the Board covers a broad share of nongovernmental workplaces, including many nonprofits and businesses in states with right-to-work laws.
The statutory definition of employee excludes agricultural laborers, domestic servants employed in a home, people employed by a parent or spouse, independent contractors, supervisors, and employees of employers covered by the Railway Labor Act. Federal, state, and local government employers are generally outside the NLRA, although separate labor-relations systems may apply.
Job title alone does not decide whether someone is a supervisor or independent contractor. The statutory definitions and the governing legal standards control the classification.
The NLRA is not a general wage or discrimination code
The NLRA addresses collective labor rights rather than setting a general minimum wage, overtime rate, workplace-safety code, or comprehensive discrimination standard. Those subjects may fall under other federal statutes or state law.
A broad overview of federal labor law therefore includes statutes beyond the NLRA. Worker classification under the Act also uses a context distinct from the standards discussed in the guide to an independent contractor.
Federal preemption leaves a defined state-law boundary
Under the Supreme Court’s Garmon doctrine, states generally may not regulate conduct that is protected or prohibited by the NLRA, or is at least arguably within those categories, because Congress assigned primary responsibility to the federal labor-law system. A related preemption doctrine restricts state regulation of conduct Congress intended to leave to the free play of economic forces.
Those doctrines have exceptions and do not convert the NLRA into a complete federal employment code. States can generally establish minimum labor standards such as wage rules that neither regulate the collective-bargaining process nor conflict with federal labor policy.
Section 14(b) also expressly permits state laws barring agreements that require union membership as a condition of employment. These “right-to-work” laws concern union-security arrangements; they do not remove employees or employers in those states from the NLRB’s general jurisdiction.
Current status in 2026
As of August 9, 2026, the codified NLRA remains in force in Title 29 of the United States Code, and the NLRB continues to administer representation and unfair-labor-practice proceedings. Board doctrine can change through adjudication, and court review can alter how particular provisions apply, so a current decision may matter for a narrow issue even when the statutory text is unchanged.
Sources
- National Labor Relations Act, as amended
- 29 U.S.C. § 157 — Employee rights
- 29 U.S.C. § 158 — Unfair labor practices
- 29 U.S.C. § 160 — Prevention of unfair labor practices
- National Labor Relations Board overview
- NLRB employee coverage and exclusions
- NLRB rights-enforcement process
- NLRB jurisdictional standards
