NLRB Revives Efforts to Speed Up Union Election Process
Author: Melissa Gonzalez Boyce, XpertHR Legal Editor
February 6, 2014
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has reissued proposed amendments to rules and regulations that would streamline and shorten the time for representation case procedures governing the union election process. The amendments are identical to those first proposed by the NLRB in 2011, which were later struck down by a district court judge because the NLRB lacked a quorum when the amendments were adopted.
The reissuance of the proposed amendments will likely be fiercely opposed by employers, as their adoption would significantly limit an employer's ability to challenge a union's election campaign and to timely file legal challenges. The proposed amendments could reduce the time between the date when employees file an election petition with the NLRB and the date when the actual election occurs to a period of 25 days or fewer. Under current rules, the average time period is 38 to 42 days.
According to the NLRB, the proposed amendments are aimed at "modernizing processes, enhancing transparency and eliminating unnecessary litigation and delay." During the NLRB's announcement of the proposed amendments, Board Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce said that "[u]nnecessary delay and inefficiencies hurt both employees and employers. These proposals are intended to improve the process for all parties, in all cases, whether non-union employees are seeking a union to represent them or unionized employees are seeking to decertify a union."
According to the NLRB, the proposed amendments would:
- Allow for electronic filing and transmission of election petitions and other documents;
- Ensure that employees, employers and unions timely receive and exchange the information they need to understand and participate in the representation case process;
- Streamline pre- and post-election procedures to facilitate agreement and eliminate unnecessary litigation;
- Include telephone numbers and email addresses in voter lists to enable parties to the election to communicate readily with voters; and
- Consolidate all election-related appeals to the Board into a single post-election appeals process.
The NLRB invites public comments on the proposed amendments. Written comments must be received by April 7, 2014; comments replying to the initial comments must be filed by April 14. The NLRB will hold a public hearing the week of April 7 during which members of the public may address the proposed amendments and suggest other ways to improve the representation case procedures.