Toll Free: 877.880.

4477
Phone: 281.880.6525

NLRBs New Quickie Election Rules

May Tilt Scales Towards Unions

www.hrp.net

 The "quickie election" rules were originally proposed two years ago, but
were narrowly rejected by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) when
the majority of its five members were appointees of President George W.
Bush. Today the majority are President Obama appointees, and the rules
were adopted 3-2, along party lines.
From the majority's perspective, the new rules will allow the NLRB "to more
effectively administer the National Labor Relations Act by modernizing its
rules in light of modern technology, making its procedures more transparent
and uniform across regions, and eliminating unnecessary litigation and delay."

www.hrp.net

Here's what will change on April 14.

Today, employers only need to supply
employee addresses and fax machine
numbers to union organizers. Under the
rules, they will have to supply phone
numbers and email addresses as well,
assuming the employer has those.
This would enable union organizers to
bombard employees with electronic
"vote yes" messages right away. If an
incident or policy change occurred at
your organization that upset many
employees, possibly sparking receptivity
to union membership, little time would
have elapsed to allow tempers to cool
or for you to show employees why the
unpopular action was necessary.

What's New?
Here are some additional key components of the new rules:

Getting the word out: When the petitioner (presumably the union) files
its request for an election to the NLRB, it will need to send a copy to you
at the same time, to provide "the earliest possible notice of the filing.

Informing employees: You are required to post, within two days of being
put on notice yourself, a "Notice of Petition for Election" describing the
filing and enumerating your employees' rights.

www.hrp.net

Accelerating dispute resolution: You will have to enumerate any

objections you have to the petition, generally the day before the preelection hearing begins. The union also has to move fast, responding to
issues that the "non-petitioning parties" (that is, typically the employer)
has raised at the opening of the hearing.

Objections must be narrow: "Litigation inconsistent with the positions

taken by the parties will generally not be allowed," warns the NLRB. In
other words, no legal diversionary tactics. The focus of the hearing will be
limited to "issues necessary to determine whether an election should be
conducted." And if you challenge the eligibility of a handful of employees
to join the union, the NLRB may let them vote anyway and not hold up
the election. Afterwards, it will address the eligibility dispute -- but only if
those votes could have determined the election's outcome.

www.hrp.net

Keep your briefs brief: In fact, you might not even be allowed to file a
brief for the pre-election hearing; NLRB's regional director will decide if
that's necessary. All parties will be able to make their case orally during
the hearing, however.

Review process: You (and the union or employees) can ask the regional
NLRB chief to reconsider rulings made before and during the election, but
only through a single post-election request. And if you don't get the
opinion you had hoped for, the only way the regional director's ruling can
be overturned is by the members of the NLRB itself.

Scheduling of hearings: Pre-election hearings generally will be held eight

days after you receive the hearing notice. More time might be allowed
"in cases presenting unusually complex issues." Also, if there is to be a
post-election hearing, it generally needs to start two weeks after any
objections to the election process are filed.

www.hrp.net

Union Election Process: the Basics

Here's a quick refresher on the basic steps towards unionization:
1. Employees, a labor union or even, in theory, an
employer files a "representation petition" with the
NLRB to allow a union representation election to be
held.
2. The NLRB will a) review the petition(s) to determine
if an election should be conducted and, unless it
finds a reason not to, b) it will "direct" an election.
3. In the typical instance in which the employer is not the petitioner, the
NLRB notifies you that a petition has been filed.

4. All parties ("in most instances," according to the NLRB) agree to the
voting unit and other issues. When there is disagreement, an NLRB
regional office will hold a pre-election hearing to try to resolve disputes.
www.hrp.net

What to Do Now
Under the new rules, things will move very fast if some employees want union
representation. That means you might consider providing some basic
education to supervisors about indications that a movement to unionize is
developing, to maximize the time you have available to respond.

www.hrp.net

Also, supervisors should be aware of general labor law requirements and

restrictions aimed at keeping employers from blocking employees from
seeking unionization.
Finally, if you collect employee personal email addresses and telephone
numbers, you might want to revisit that policy. As noted earlier, if you have
them, under the new rules you will be obligated to turn them over to union
organizers, should a unionization drive take root.

www.hrp.net

14550 Torrey Chase Blvd., Ste. 360 Houston, TX 77014 USA

Toll Free : 877.880.4477
Phone
: 281.880.6525
Fax
: 281.866.9426

E-mail : info@hrp.net

www.hrp.net