On July 2, 2013, the panel (Board) representing the NLRB's judicial functions issued an opinion in Albertson's, LLC, holding, in part, that an employer violated the NLRA by interviewing an employee multiple times during an unfair labor practice investigation without providing him with assurances against reprisals before the third and fourth interviews, as required by the Board's decision in Johnnie's Poultry Co.

Under Johnnie's Poultry, an employer investigating unfair labor practice charges may interview employees if it:

In Albertson's, the employer's attorney interviewed an employee four times, between April and November of 2011. The employer gave Johnnie's Poultry warnings before the first two interviews in April and May, but not before the second two interviews in September and November. The Board held that because the second two interviews were not close in time to the initial Johnnie's Poultry warnings and because the interviews did not cover the same subject matter, the employer's initial Johnnie's Poultry warnings were not effective as to the second two interviews.

In light of this decision, to avoid liability under the NLRA, employers conducting employee interviews should give Johnnie's Poultry warnings before each interview. For a sample Johnnie's Poultry statement, see Standard Document, Employee Interview Statement for an Unfair Labor Practice Investigation (Johnnie's Poultry Statement).

The Board also formally overruled rarely cited precedent holding that an employee must complain about an employer's solicitation of grievances in response to a union organizing campaign for there to be a violation of Section 8(a)(1) of the NLRA (Wm. T. Burnett & Co., Inc.).