Publications

6 Oct 2011

NLRB postpones implementation date of notice-posting rule: what employers should know

Labor and Employment Alert

Dianne Rose LaRocca

This week, the National Labor Relations Board announced that it has postponed the implementation date for its new notice-posting rule, until January 31, 2012. 

According to the agency’s announcement, the change was made “in order to allow for enhanced education and outreach to employers, particularly those who operate small and medium sized businesses.”  

The NLRB is the federal government agency responsible for enforcing the National Labor Relations Act.  Congress enacted the NLRA in 1935 to protect the rights of employees and employers, to encourage collective bargaining and to curtail certain private sector labor and management practices harmful to the general welfare of workers, businesses and the US economy.  The NLRA applies to most employers in the private sector, whether their employees are union represented or not.

In August 2011, the NLRB issued a final rule requiring employers to notify their employees about their rights under the NLRA by posting a notice.  Each employer within the NLRB's jurisdiction must post the notice in all areas where the employer customarily posts notices to its employees.  This includes an Intranet or Internet site, if an employer customarily uses such media to communicate with its employees about its rules and policies.  Employers are not required to distribute the posting by email, Twitter or other electronic means.  The notice must be posted in English and in another language if at least 20 percent of an employer's employees are not proficient in English and speak the other language.  Reasonable steps must be taken to ensure that the notice is not altered, defaced or covered by any other material, or otherwise rendered unreadable. 

Failure to post the notice may be treated as an unfair labor practice under the NLRA, toll the NLRA's six-month statute of limitations on filing of an unfair labor practice charge and be used as evidence of an employer's unlawful motive in unfair labor practice cases.

The decision to postpone the implementation date of the NLRB's notice-posting rule was made, according to the agency, following “queries from businesses and trade organizations indicating uncertainty about which businesses fall under the NLRB's jurisdiction.” 

Please contact Dianne LaRocca and Peter Pantaleo to help you determine if your business or organization falls within the NLRB's jurisdiction, what your business or organization must do to comply with this notice-posting rule and the effect the notice posting may have on your workforce.