| Word | Description |
| National consultation rights | In the Federal government, a union which has exclusive recognition on an agency-wide basis or is the exclusive representative of a substantial number of agency employees is granted consultation rights. |
| National emergency strike | National emergency strikes are those that can endanger national health or safety. The president may appoint a board of inquiry charged with making a report of the situation. Based upon this report, the president could apply for an injunction restraining the strike for 60 days. If there has been no resolution at the end of 60 days, the injunction can be extended for another 20 days. During this period, employees are polled in a secret ballot to determine their willingness to comply with the terms of their employer's last offer. |
| National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) of 1947 | The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), passed in 1935, provides that all employees have the right to form, join and assist labor organizations and to bargain collectively with their employers. |
| National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (NLRA) | The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), passed in 1935, provides that all employees have the right to form, join and assist labor organizations and to bargain collectively with their employers. |
| National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) | The National Labor Relations Act is administered by the NLRB, a five-member board appointed by the president, along with a General Counsel acting through more than 45 regional and other field offices of the board. They investigate and prosecute unfair labor practice cases and conduct elections to determine employee representation. |
| National origin | The country--including those that no longer exist--of one's birth or of one's ancestors' birth. "National origin" and "ethnicity" often are used interchangeably, although "ethnic group" can refer to religion or color, as well as country of one's ancestry. |
| National union | The national organization of a labor union. |
| Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander | A person having origins in any of the peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands. |
| Naturalization | The process by which an alien is made a citizen of the United States of America and relinquishes citizenship to any other country. |
| Needs analysis | A method of analyzing how employee skill deficits can be addressed through current or future training and professional development programs, as well as determining the types of training/development programs required and how to prioritize training/development. |
| Negligent hiring | A claim made against an employer based on the premise of an employer’s obligation to not hire an applicant the employer knew or should have known was unsuitable and likely to behave inappropriately toward other employees. |
| Negligent referral | Negligent referral is defined as the failure of an employer to disclose complete and factual information about former or current employee to another employer. |
| Negligent retention | The act of failing to take appropriate disciplinary action (i.e., termination) against an employee the employer knew or should have known was unsuitable. |
| Negotiability | Refers to whether a given topic is subject to bargaining between an agency and the union. |
| Negotiability appeal | If an agency believes that a union proposal is contrary to law or applicable regulation, or is otherwise nonnegotiable under the statute, it may inform the union of its refusal to negotiate |
| Negotiated grievance procedure | A systematic procedure agreed to by the negotiating parties for the resolution of grievances. |
| Negotiation | A process whereby members of management and the union bargain over terms and conditions of employment during collective bargaining. |
| Nepotism | Favoritism shown to relatives by individuals in a position of authority, such as managers or supervisors. |
| Netiquette | Refers to Internet use rules of conduct, involving respecting others' privacy and not doing anything online that is offensive, annoying or frustrating to other people. |
| Neutral | A disinterested third party who acts as a conciliator, mediator, fact finder, or arbitrator in order to facilitate a settlement in dispute. |
| Neutrality agreements (see also Labor Peace Agreements) | An agreement between the employer and a union, wherein the employer agrees not to resist the union’s organizing attempts. Such agreements may include, among other things: Facility access for the union; card checks for recognition; prohibitions on the employer from making any negative comments regarding the union; providing the employees the address and phone number of the union organizer at hire and a variety of other similar provision. Such agreements are often politically driven. |
| New Hire | A worker added to an establishment's payroll for the first time. Compare with "Rehire." |
| Newborns’ and Mothers’ Health Protection Act (NMHPA) of 1996 | Requires a minimum length of hospital confinement in conjunction with childbirth. This requirement applies to health plans and health insurance companies that provide hospital stays for childbirth in their policies. The law provides that coverage for a hospital stay following a normal delivery may not be limited to less than 48 hours for both the mother and newborn, and for a cesarean section not less than 96 hours. |
| No Reasonable Cause | EEOC's determination of no reasonable cause to believe that discrimination occurred based upon evidence obtained in investigation. The charging party may exercise the right to bring private court action. |
| No-man’s land | Refers to the unclear jurisdiction between federal, state and local governments during labor disputes. |
| No-raiding agreement | An agreement between individual international unions in which they respectively promise not to engage in the practice of persuading employees to leave one union to join another once the initial bargaining relationship has been established. |
| No-strike clause | A provision in a collective bargaining contract where the union promises that during the life of the contract the employees will not engage in strikes, slowdowns, or other job actions. |
| Nominal group technique | A consensus planning tool used to identify the strengths of an organization, department or division, whereby participants are brought together to discuss important issues, problems and solutions. |
| Non-exempt employee | An employee who does not meet any one of the Fair Labor Standards Act exemption tests and is paid on an hourly basis and covered by wage and hour laws regarding hours worked, overtime pay, etc. |
| Noncompete agreement | A contract restricting an employee from obtaining employment with a competitor within a specified industry, distance and/or time frame. |
| Noncompliance | A contractor's failure to adhere to the conditions set out in the contract's equal opportunity and/or affirmative action clauses and/or the regulations implementing those clauses (41 CFR Chapter 60) and/or failure to correct violations. |
| Nondisclosure agreement | A contract restricting an employee from disclosing confidential or proprietary information. |
| Nondiscrimination | The practice of not discriminating against members of disadvantaged or protected groups in hiring practices, policies, benefits or conditions of employment. |
| Nonexempt employee | An employee who does not meet any one of the Fair Labor Standards Act exemption tests and is paid on an hourly basis and covered by wage and hour laws regarding hours worked, overtime pay, etc. |
| Nontraditional employment | Used to define occupations or specific fields where women typically comprise less than 25 percent of the workforce. |
| Normative forecasting | A method of projecting future needs in order to determine what developments will be required to meet those needs. |
| Norris-LaGuradia Act (Anti-Injunction Act) | One of the first laws to protect the rights of workers so they can engage in activities brought onto by the unions. In addition, the act gave labor unions the right to organize, strike, and use other forms of leverage against management without the interference of the federal court. |
| North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) | An agreement reached by the United States, Canada and Mexico that instituted a schedule for the phasing out of tariffs and eliminated a variety of fees and other hindrances to encourage free trade between the three North American countries. |
| Notice | In wrongful discharge cases, this doctrine is used to determine whether or not an employer gave an employee adequate advanced notice of the potential consequences if a specific behavior or conduct was not improved upon. |
| Notice of Alleged Noncompliance (15 Day Notice) | A letter from OFCCP to a contractor informing it that the agency believes the contractor has violated the terms of a Conciliation Agreement and that enforcement proceedings may be initiated unless the contractor demonstrates within 15 working days from its receipt of the letter that it has not violated its commitments under the Agreement. |
| Notice of Violation (NOV) | A letter from OFCCP notifying the contractor that the agency has found violations of the Executive Order, Section 503 and/or 38 U.S.C. �4212 during a compliance review, and the remedies that are required to resolve those violations. |