NLRB Issues a Final Rule Requiring Employers to Post a Notice of Employee Rights to Form and Join Unions
On August 25, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) issued a 194-page Final Rule which will cause all private-sector employers who are subject to the National Labor Relations Act (“Act”) (which includes almost all private employers) to post a notice of employee rights including the rights to form or join a union. This notice must be posted where other workplace notices are typically posted. Where personnel rules are typically placed on an internet or intranet site, such posting will be required on those sites as well. The rule will become effective and require such posting as of November 14, 2011.
Although the NLRB’s press release – http://www.nlrb.gov/news-outreach/news-releases/board-issues-final-rule-require-posting-nlra-rights – provides that a copy of the applicable notice will be available through Regional Offices of the NLRB, at the time of the issuance of this Alert the NLRB Regional Offices contacted did not have the final form of the notice and that it would probably be available on or before November 1, 2011. However, the NLRB’s press release indicates that such rule will be similar in form to a posting of employee rights presently required for federal contractors – 3-2011 Employee Rights Poster.
Employers who fail to post the required notice on and after November 14th will, upon the filing of an unfair labor practice charge against them, be found to have committed an unfair labor practice. That, in turn, will require the posting of another notice further informing employees of their rights under the Act.
A major source of controversy with the required notice is that, even apart from informing employees of their rights under the Act, the notice will go so far as to describe several examples and descriptions of potential unfair labor practices by employers and by unions alike.
As soon as a copy of the final notice under the new regulation has been made available, we will provide our readers access to it.
