General Counsel Crystal S. Carey of the National Labor Relations Board has issued Memorandum GC 26-04, signalling a firm and expansive enforcement agenda for the months ahead.
Released on August 26, 2026, the memo is titled “Further Guidance Regarding General Counsel Priorities” and sets out Carey’s litigation and enforcement direction in considerable detail.
The document identifies seven areas in which Carey has already taken positions seeking changes in existing Board law, reflecting an aggressive posture from the general counsel’s office.
Beyond those seven areas, GC 26-04 outlines six additional areas of Board law that Carey intends to challenge when a suitable case presents itself.
Employers should note, however, that the memo does not itself alter existing law, meaning regional offices will continue investigating and prosecuting cases under current Board precedent in the meantime.
The practical effect is that the general counsel is actively seeking appropriate cases through which to bring these legal challenges before the Board for a ruling.
At the top of Carey’s priority list is the Board’s 2023 decision in McLaren Macomb, 372 NLRB No. 58, which significantly restricted employer use of non-disparagement and confidentiality clauses in severance agreements.
That decision held that broad confidentiality and non-disparagement provisions in severance agreements are unlawful, fundamentally altering how employers structure post-employment arrangements with departing workers.
The memo arrives against a notable shift in the Board’s political composition, with James Macy having been sworn in as the Board’s third Republican member on August 7, 2026.
Macy’s swearing-in cemented a 3-1 Republican majority on the Board, a balance expected to hold through at least December 16, 2027, creating a potentially complex dynamic between the Board and the general counsel’s office.
That tension between a Republican-majority Board and a general counsel pursuing expansive worker protections means employers face a period of genuine legal uncertainty as cases work their way through the system.
For UK-based businesses with US operations, the memo represents an important development in American labour law that could affect employment contracts, severance terms, and workplace compliance programmes.
Employers are advised to review existing severance agreements and restrictive covenant arrangements in light of Carey’s stated priorities, particularly around non-disparagement and confidentiality provisions.
Legal advisers are urging businesses to monitor how regional NLRB offices respond to the memo and to prepare for heightened scrutiny of employment practices across multiple areas of Board law.