Fired for Talking With Coworkers About Pay? How and When to File an NLRB Charge

If you were fired for talking with coworkers about pay or working conditions, you can file an unfair labor practice charge with a National Labor Relations Board regional office. The key limit is time: the charge must be filed and also served on your employer within six months of the firing. Supervisors, independent contractors, farmworkers and government employees fall outside this federal law.

A timely charge can lead to real relief. In Cruise Network, a travel-agency employee filed three days after she was fired; the employer later admitted in its answer that it fired her for discussing wages, and the Board ordered a reinstatement offer and backpay.

Check that the activity and your job are covered

Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 157, protects employees’ right “to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.” You do not need a union. The NLRB’s page on discussing wages says an employer may not punish or retaliate for pay conversations, whether face to face, by phone or in writing.

“Concerted” matters. The NLRB’s concerted activity page says that a single employee can be protected when acting on the authority of coworkers, bringing group complaints to the employer, or trying to start or prepare for group action. It adds that protection can be lost through egregiously offensive or knowingly and maliciously false statements.

Coverage is the second question. The Act’s definition of “employee” in 29 U.S.C. § 152(3) excludes agricultural laborers, domestic workers in a family’s home, independent contractors and supervisors, among others, and § 152(2) excludes government employers. A “supervisor” under § 152(11) has authority, using independent judgment, to hire, fire, discipline or responsibly direct other employees, or to effectively recommend it.

The six-month deadline requires filing and service

Section 10(b) of the Act, 29 U.S.C. § 160(b), bars a complaint on any unfair labor practice “occurring more than six months prior to the filing of the charge with the Board and the service of a copy thereof upon the person against whom such charge is made.” The only statutory extension is for someone kept from filing by armed-forces service. The charge form’s instructions agree: only charges “filed and served within six (6) months” of the event will be processed.

Two rules matter. Under 29 C.F.R. § 102.2(b)(1), a Section 10(b) charge must be received by the last day; the usual postmark grace period does not apply. Under 29 C.F.R. § 102.14, the charging party is responsible for serving the employer. The Regional Director serves a courtesy copy, but the Region “will not be responsible for such service.” Email service requires the recipient’s permission. Mail or carrier service counts on the deposit date; email, on the send date.

In our reading, act well before the six-month mark. If you were fired on March 3, early September is the outer edge, and waiting for it leaves no room to fix a filing or service problem. If the employer did more than one thing, such as a warning and then a discharge, note each date; the earliest one may run out first.

How a charge is filed and what happens next

A charge against an employer uses Form NLRB-501, usually filed with the regional office covering the worksite where you worked before the discharge. Its instructions suggest calling an Information Officer, who can confirm the right office, answer questions or draft the charge for you. The “Basis of the Charge” section asks for a brief description, not a detailed account of the evidence or a witness list. The NLRB’s wage-discussion page also links to an online e-filing option.

Form NLRB-4541, the NLRB’s procedures notice, describes the next steps. The Region investigates and asks the parties for witnesses and evidence. If the Regional Director finds no merit, you may withdraw the charge or it is dismissed, with a right to appeal to the General Counsel. If it has merit, settlement is encouraged; otherwise the Regional Director issues a complaint and notice of hearing before an administrative law judge, who issues a decision and recommendation to the Board.

In Cruise Network, the complaint came about 17 months after the charge. In our reading, keep the termination notice, coworker messages, dates, the names of managers who knew and who else shared the concern; they may matter much later.

California has a separate route with its own deadline

California law separately protects disclosing your pay. Labor Code section 232 bars an employer from discharging, formally disciplining or otherwise discriminating against an employee who discloses the amount of his or her wages, and from requiring employees to keep their wages secret or sign a waiver of that right. The statute protects an individual disclosure; it does not require group action. The Labor Commissioner’s retaliation complaint page says complaints must generally be filed within one year of the retaliatory act.

In our reading, the two agencies run separate processes; a filing with one does not file with the other. Our guide to Labor Commissioner wage and retaliation complaints covers the state process.