United States: Employers Should Get Housekeeping In Order Before The NLRB’s New Election Rule Takes Effect

Originally published on the Employer's Law Blog

In December 2011, the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB") published its final rule on the union election process. The new rule is scheduled to take effect on April 30, 2012. It is expected that after the rule takes effect on April 30^th, employers will have much less time to campaign against the union once it files an election petition.

Employers should start by taking steps before the new NLRB election rule goes into effect on April 30^th to make themselves less vulnerable to unionization. This includes:

• ·Making sure that they provide competitive wages and benefits, and communicating all the benefits offered to employees.
• Creating a culture where all employees feel comfortable speaking with management and human resources.
• Establishing an internal grievance procedure that employees are comfortable using.
• Addressing legitimate employee complaints.
• Ensuring that management decisions regarding discipline, scheduling, and work assignments are consistent.
• Training front line supervisors in recognizing morale issues, anticipating dissatisfaction, and recognizing early union organizational activities.
• Maintaining no trespassing policies, no solicitation policies, no re-entry policies, and confidentiality of employee information policies.
• Controlling office communication via e-mail, voice-mail, and bulletin boards.
• Understanding who supervisors are under the National Labor Relations Act (the "Act") as they are ineligible to vote and can be instrumental in challenging union organizing efforts.
• Establishing a game plan on how the company will handle a union-election.

The NLRB's change to the election procedure coupled with the new requirement mandating that all employers post notice of employees' rights under the Act, also set to take effect on April 30^th, may cause an upswing in unionization. Employers should act now so as to not be caught off-guard if a union-election petition is filed.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.