Guest Post by:
Patricia M. Trainor
Managing Editor, HR
Business & Legal Resources, Inc.
As I get ready to update HR.BLR.com’s Union topic, I’ve been reviewing the pro-union surge of activity at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which now has a majority of Obama appointees. Employers, including non-unionized employers, should be alert for upcoming regulations, rulings, and recommendations from the NLRB’s General Counsel. Here’s a sampling of what’s been happening:
- A proposed a rule requiring most private employers to post a notice of employee rights under federal labor laws, including the right to unionize
- The NLRB will decide whether employers must allow unions access to their property if they allow other groups access
- The NLRB may overturn a rule that employees have 45 days to request a secret election after a union has been recognized through “card-check”
- A ruling that casual, intermittent employees may constitute an appropriate bargaining unit
- Recommendations from the General Counsel that officials get tough in “nip in the bud” cases, i.e., where an employer wrongfully fires someone during an organizing campaign
With the apparent demise of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), a proposed law that would have made it far easier to unionize employees, the NLRB may be on the road to administratively “enacting” many of the law’s provisions, including harsher penalties for violations of the NLRA. We are monitoring these developments and will keep subscribers posted as the NLRB issues new rulings and regulations.
Click here for a checklist on what not to do when trying to avoid a union.
You can find detailed discussions of labor laws on HR.BLR.com under the following topics: