NLRB Evaluation of Personnel Handbook Finds Moonlighting Policy Unlawful

Health care employers should take note of a recent decision of an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) which struck down a number of employer policies in a Personnel Handbook, including a limitation on anti-moonlighting. Anti-moonlighting provisions are common in health care provider contracts and in personnel manuals of health care providers, including group practices, hospitals and other larger health care employers. The reasons for such rules in the health care setting are straightforward and largely non-controversial. They include the fact that risk to patients go up if employees are fatigued at work. Health care providers also may require varying shifts or mandatory overtime. Such rules minimize workplace conflict when employees are unable to satisfy the staffing requirements of their primary employer because of a second job commitment. Obviously, working for a competitor provider is also something that most group practices, hospitals and other providers, seek to limit. More ›