In a prior post, we had reminded you that certain changes to the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) regulations would become effective on April 30. 

However, as of Friday, April 13, in a case brought by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the U.S. District Court of South Carolina decided to strike down the requirement to post notices informing employees of their rights to unionize under the NLRA.  The South Carolina federal court decided that the posting requirements exceeded the authority of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the entity charged with enforcing the NLRA.  The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals promptly followed, issuing an injunction putting the notice posting requirement on hold, pending the resolution of whether or not the NLRB had the authority to issue the notice posting requirement. 

As a result, yesterday afternoon, the NLRB announced that its regional offices would not implement the rule requiring posting of notices of NLRA rights while the appeal of the D.C. Circuit’s decision is pending. 

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is awaiting a decision from the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia on the other April 30 deadline issue, challenging the authority of the NLRB to accelerate the timeframe for union elections, the so-called “ambush election” regulations.  Certainly, if the D.C. District Court follows in the footsteps of the D.C. Appeals Court, we should be seeing another decision against the NLRB shortly.

In light of these recent developments:

• The requirement to post the “Notice of Employee Rights under the National Labor Relations Act” by April 30 is on hold. 
• The “ambush elections” provisions, which essentially shorten the timeframe to respond to any union election campaign, as of this posting will still take effect on April 30. 

Although employers may voluntarily post the notice, they should do so only after giving careful consideration to the potential ramifications, especially in light of the still effective “ambush election” provisions.