---
kind: "section"
citation: "29 U.S.C. § 152"
title: "29"
title_heading: "Labor"
number: "152"
heading: "Definitions"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/29/152"
units:
  - "Chapter 7 — Labor-Management Relations"
  - "Subchapter II — National Labor Relations"
---

# §152. Definitions


When used in this subchapter—

- (1) The term “person” includes one or more individuals, [labor organizations](#5), partnerships, associations, corporations, legal [representatives](#4), trustees, trustees in cases under [title 11](/usc/11.md), or receivers.
- (2) The term “employer” includes any [person](#1) acting as an agent of an employer, directly or indirectly, but shall not include the United States or any wholly owned Government corporation, or any Federal Reserve Bank, or any State or political subdivision thereof, or any [person](#1) subject to the Railway Labor Act [[45 U.S.C. 151](/usc/45/151.md) et seq.], as amended from time to time, or any [labor organization](#5) (other than when acting as an employer), or anyone acting in the capacity of officer or agent of such [labor organization](#5).
- (3) The term “employee” shall include any employee, and shall not be limited to the employees of a particular [employer](#2), unless this subchapter explicitly states otherwise, and shall include any individual whose work has ceased as a consequence of, or in connection with, any current [labor dispute](#9) or because of any [unfair labor practice](#8), and who has not obtained any other regular and substantially equivalent employment, but shall not include any individual employed as an agricultural laborer, or in the domestic service of any family or [person](#1) at his home, or any individual employed by his parent or spouse, or any individual having the status of an independent contractor, or any individual employed as a [supervisor](#11), or any individual employed by an [employer](#2) subject to the Railway Labor Act [[45 U.S.C. 151](/usc/45/151.md) et seq.], as amended from time to time, or by any other [person](#1) who is not an [employer](#2) as herein defined.
- (4) The term “representatives” includes any individual or [labor organization](#5).
- (5) The term “labor organization” means any organization of any kind, or any agency or [employee](#3) representation committee or plan, in which [employees](#3) participate and which exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with [employers](#2) concerning grievances, [labor disputes](/usc/29/142.md?p=3), wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, or conditions of work.
- (6) The term “commerce” means trade, traffic, commerce, transportation, or communication among the several States, or between the District of Columbia or any Territory of the United States and any State or other Territory, or between any foreign country and any State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, or within the District of Columbia or any Territory, or between points in the same State but through any other State or any Territory or the District of Columbia or any foreign country.
- (7) The term “affecting commerce” means in [commerce](#6), or burdening or obstructing [commerce](#6) or the free flow of [commerce](#6), or having led or tending to lead to a [labor dispute](#9) burdening or obstructing [commerce](#6) or the free flow of [commerce](#6).
- (8) The term “unfair labor practice” means any unfair labor practice listed in [section 158 of this title](/usc/29/158.md).
- (9) The term “labor dispute” includes any controversy concerning terms, tenure or conditions of employment, or concerning the association or representation of [persons](#1) in negotiating, fixing, maintaining, changing, or seeking to arrange terms or conditions of employment, regardless of whether the disputants stand in the proximate relation of [employer](#2) and [employee](#3).
- (10) The term “National Labor Relations Board” means the National Labor Relations Board provided for in [section 153 of this title](/usc/29/153.md).
- (11) The term “supervisor” means any individual having authority, in the interest of the [employer](#2), to hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward, or discipline other [employees](#3), or responsibly to direct them, or to adjust their grievances, or effectively to recommend such action, if in connection with the foregoing the exercise of such authority is not of a merely routine or clerical nature, but requires the use of independent judgment.
- (12) The term “professional employee” means—
- (13) In determining whether any [person](#1) is acting as an “agent” of another [person](#1) so as to make such other [person](#1) responsible for his acts, the question of whether the specific acts performed were actually authorized or subsequently ratified shall not be controlling.
- (14) The term “health care institution” shall include any hospital, convalescent hospital, health maintenance organization, health clinic, nursing home, extended care facility, or other institution devoted to the care of sick, infirm, or aged [person](#1).[^1]

## Footnotes

[^1]: So in original. Probably should be “persons.”

## Source credit

(July 5, 1935, ch. 372, § 2, 49 Stat. 450; June 23, 1947, ch. 120, title I, § 101, 61 Stat. 137; Pub. L. 93–360, § 1(a), (b), July 26, 1974, 88 Stat. 395; Pub. L. 95–598, title III, § 319, Nov. 6, 1978, 92 Stat. 2678.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### References in Text

The Railway Labor Act, referred to in pars. (2) and (3), is act May 20, 1926, ch. 347, 44 Stat. 577, which is classified principally to chapter 8 (§ 151 et seq.) of Title 45, Railroads. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see section 151 of Title 45 and Tables.

### Amendments

1978—Par. (1). Pub. L. 95–598 substituted “cases under title 11” for “bankruptcy”.

1974—Par. (2). Pub. L. 93–360, § 1(a), struck out provisions which had excepted from definition of “employer” corporations and associations operating hospitals if no part of the net earnings inured to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual.

Par. (14). Pub. L. 93–360, § 1(b), added par. (14).

1947—Act June 23, 1947, amended section generally to redefine terms used in this subchapter and to define several new terms.

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date of 1978 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 95–598 effective Oct. 1, 1979, see section 402(a) of Pub. L. 95–598, set out as an Effective Date note preceding section 101 of Title 11, Bankruptcy.

### Effective Date of 1974 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 93–360 effective on thirtieth day after July 26, 1974, see section 4 of Pub. L. 93–360, set out as an Effective Date note under section 169 of this title.

### Effective Date of 1947 Amendment

For effective date of amendment by act June 23, 1947, see section 104 of act June 23, 1947, set out as a note under section 151 of this title.