NLRB decision postponed
May 1, 2012
WASHINGTON—The April 30 deadline for employers to post a notice to employees’ of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act has been postponed.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit granted an injunction filed by the National Association of Manufacturers and the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (of which the National Newspaper Association is a member) effectively delaying the requirement until the court can resolve all of the legal uncertainty surrounding enforcement of the rule.
It is now expected that the notice-posting requirement will not go into effect until late this year, if it goes into effect at all. The original effective date has been already been postponed twice before because of legal challenges.
A week before this ruling, a U.S. District Court in Charleston, SC, struck down the notice requirement on a motion filed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The court held that the National Labor Relations Board does not have the authority to require employers to post the notice.
The NLRB has not yet issued a response to these court orders.
In March, a court ruling challenging the posting requirement held that the NLRB regulation requiring employers to post the legal notices was not unreasonable and did not violate the First Amendment.
The NLRB notice would require that employees be advised of their right to organize a union to negotiate wages and hours, the right to collective bargaining and the right to strike.
