On October 5, the NLRB announced its decision to postpone the requirement that all employers under its jurisdiction post a notice for employees detailing the rights under the NLRA to January 31, 2012.  As previously reported here, the NLRB regulations provided that posting was to occur by November 14, 2011. 

The NLRB’s stated reason:  “to allow for enhanced education and outreach to employers, particularly those who operate small and medium sized businesses.”  This detail-anemic rationale really signifies a sop to the overwhelming opposition to new requirement, which has been challenged in court as exceeding the NLRB’s authority.  After all, the NLRB’s regulations don’t require a mere posting of employee rights.  Through these new regulations, the NLRB envisions a broader jurisdiction for itself based on its conclusion that a failure to post the notice is, in and of itself, an unfair labor practice, and one that can toll the statute of limitations on other alleged violations of the NLRA.  Thus, the failure to post could lay dormant for years, like an anti-personnel mine, until tripped by any number of circumstances, including surprise government inspection or a union’s mere attempt to organize the workforce.  The latter event it would seem would make a failure to post the notice unnecessary, but not according to the NLRB.  

It will be interesting to see what further “outreach and education” actually occurs, especially when one gets the sense this NLRB is hard at work trying to issue yet more regulations on quickie elections before December when Member Becker’s term expires.  Member Becker’s departure will bring the NLRB down to two members, not enough for the agency to continue to conduct business.

Consider this:  the NLRB received about 7,000 comments on the rights poster regulations in December of 2010.  It issued the regulations in August, 2011, after eight months of deliberation.  For the quickie election proposed rules, the NLRB received over 60,000 comments, which were filed in August.  It will be quite a feat in the use of governmental resources if the NLRB decides to rush out regulations on elections by December of this year, a mere three months after receiving comments, the overwhelming majority of which seem to oppose the proposed changes.

As always, we will keep you posted on further developments as they occur. 

  

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Photo of Mark Theodore Mark Theodore

Mark Theodore is a partner in the Labor & Employment Law Department. He has devoted his practice almost exclusively to representing management in all aspects of traditional labor law matters throughout the U.S. He is Co-Chair of Proskauer’s Labor-Management and Collective Bargaining Practice…

Mark Theodore is a partner in the Labor & Employment Law Department. He has devoted his practice almost exclusively to representing management in all aspects of traditional labor law matters throughout the U.S. He is Co-Chair of Proskauer’s Labor-Management and Collective Bargaining Practice Group.

Some recent highlights of his career include:

  • Successfully defended client against allegations that it had terminated a union supporter and isolated another. T-Mobile USA, Inc., 365 NLRB No. 15 (2017).
  • Successfully appealed NLRB findings that certain of client’s written policies violated the National Labor Relations Actions Act.  T-Mobile USA, Inc., 363 NLRB No. 171 (2016), enf’d in part, rev’d in part 865 F.3d 265 (5th Cir. 2017).
  • Represented major utility in NLRB proceedings related to organizing of planners.  Secured utility-wide bargaining unit. Bargained on behalf of grocery chain.  After negotiations reached an impasse, guided the company through lawful implementation of five year collective bargaining agreement.
  • Coordinated employer response in numerous strike situations including a work stoppage across 14 western states of the client’s operations.

Mark has extensive experience representing employers in all matters before the NLRB, including representation petitions, jurisdictional disputes and the handling of unfair labor practice charges from the date they are filed through trial and appeal. Mark has acted as lead negotiator for dozens of major companies in a variety of industries, including national, multi-unit, multi-location, multi-employer and multi-union bargaining. Mark has handled lockout and strike situations, coordinating the clients efforts.

In addition, Mark has handled hundreds of arbitrations involving virtually every area of dispute, including contract interest arbitration, contract interpretation, just cause termination/discipline, benefits, pay rates, and hours of work.