On August 26, 2026, NLRB General Counsel Crystal Carey issued Memorandum GC 26-04, signalling a sweeping effort to reverse labour policy decisions made during the Biden administration.
Following a historic pattern set by recent predecessors, Carey’s memorandum outlines the specific Board precedents she has asked, or intends to ask, the Board to revisit and overturn.
Unlike many prior General Counsels, Carey chose not to issue a mandatory submission memorandum immediately, citing the Board’s historic backlog of cases as the primary reason for the delay.
Her memorandum follows the Senate’s confirmation of James Macy as the third Republican Board member, establishing the Republican majority required to issue precedent-shifting decisions.
Carey has already signalled her intention to move quickly, notably opting not to require mandatory submissions to the Washington home office on high-profile cases seeking to change existing law.
She has reportedly already asked the Board to revisit nearly half of the decisions identified as priorities within the memorandum, underlining the pace at which she intends to proceed.
At the top of Carey’s list is the Board’s 2023 decision in McLaren Macomb, which held that broad confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses in severance agreements were unlawful, fundamentally restricting employer use of post-employment restrictive covenants.
Carey also intends to ask the Board to overturn two major Biden-era decisions on remedial authority: Cemex Construction Materials Pacific, LLC, which authorised bargaining orders under specific union recognition conditions, and Thryv, Inc., which broadened the make-whole remedy to cover “all direct or foreseeable pecuniary harm.”
On workplace rules, Carey has already urged the Board to overrule Stericycle, the 2023 decision that declared unlawful any workplace rules that could, from a reasonable employee’s perspective, chill protected activity.
Carey intends to ask the Board to revisit Lion Elastomers, LLC, II, which returned to context-specific standards for determining when an employee’s outburst loses protection under the National Labour Relations Act.
She has also pushed to lessen restrictions on employer speech, advocating for the overturn of a 2024 decision that sharply restricted employers’ rights to share views on unionisation, and for eliminating the prohibition on mandatory captive audience speeches.
On unilateral changes, Carey has recommended the Board return to the long-established “contract coverage” test and overturn the 2024 decision imposing a “clear and unmistakable waiver” standard for determining contractual scope.
Employers should prepare for the Board to issue a series of policy-shifting decisions in the near term, with the cemented Republican three-member majority pointing to a particularly active period ahead.