Following conflicting decisions from two federal district courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit temporarily enjoined implementation of the National Labor Relations Board's ("NLRB") final rule requiring employers to post notices of employees' rights. Shortly after the injunction was issued, the NLRB announced that it will not implement the rule, which was scheduled to take effect on April 30, 2012.
The rule would require all private-sector employers subject to the National Labor Relations Act to post a notice of employees' rights under the Act, including the right to unionize, but has been subject to legal challenges regarding the NLRB's authority to implement the rule. Last month, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia held that the NLRB had authority to promulgate the rule, but exceeded its authority by making an employer's failure to post the notice an unfair labor practice and tolling the statute of limitations for filing an unfair labor practice charge if an employer failed to post the notice. On April 13, 2012, a federal district court in South Carolina held that the NLRB lacked authority to issue the notice-posting rule. In light of these conflicting holdings, the D.C. Circuit temporarily enjoined the NLRB's rule to preserve the status quo while the court resolves the issues on the merits. No ruling is expected until September at the earliest.
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