The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has once again altered its procedural rules impacting the processing of union election petitions. This marks the third revision in a decade, fundamentally affecting the time taken between the filing of a petition for election and the holding of the actual election.
The changes, according to a comprehensive analysis on JD Supra, majorly address the following areas.
- Pre-election hearing: The pre-election conference will now be held within 14 business days from the issuance of the hearing notice. Previously, hearings were often conducted eight days after the service of the notice.
- Post-hearing briefs: Parties will now have the chance to submit post-hearing briefs for all pre-election hearings. This is a deviation from the previous rule where post-hearing briefs were only permitted by leave of the hearing officer.
- Election observers: The new rule emphasizes the restriction of using supervisory employees as observers during the election. Previously, observers were often drawn from a pool of potentially eligible voters, including supervisors.
These modifications greatly contribute to the NLRB’s central role in processing union election petitions and in sketching the landscape for labor-management relations in general.
However, as the NLRB is known for its fluctuating approach to such procedures, legal professionals must carefully track these modifications and adjust strategies accordingly. Many law firms and corporations already are considering how these changes will affect labor-management relations in the long run.