Understand implications of NLRB's move to categorize certain student‐athletes as employees

Abstract

The National Labor Relations Board's determination that student‐athletes are employees may result in significant changes in college athletics departments nationwide. On Sept. 29, 2021, Jennifer Abruzzo, General Counsel for the NLRB, issued GC Memorandum 21‐08 announcing that scholarship student‐athletes at private colleges and universities playing football in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision qualify as employees under the National Labor Relations Act.