NLRB Seeks Public Comment on “Quickie Election” Rule

Recently, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) approved a Request for Information (“RFI”) to seek public comment on its Final Rule on what was commonly referred to as the “quickie election” rule. With this recent development, employers and unions are anticipating potential modifications to or rescission of the Final Rule based on the RFI.

However, not all NLRB members were in agreement on issuing a RFI for the Final Rule. In fact, there were two dissenting NLRB members: Mark Pearce and Lauren McFerran. Pearce said the RFI should be more aptly titled, “Notice and Quest for Alternative Facts.” McFerran similarly saw the RFI as “a transparent effort to manufacture a justification for reopening the Rule.”

The Final Rule became effective on April 14, 2015, and has impacted representation elections in significant ways.

  1. It shortened the time period between a union’s filing of a representation petition and the holding of an election, making it harder for employers to present their arguments against union representation.
  2. It limited the scope of any pre-election challenges that may need to be litigated. Before the implantation of the Final Rule, pre-election challenges postponed the election date, which provided employers with more time to develop a strategy and educate the workforce on the benefits of non-unionization.
  3. It required employers to disclose an employee’s personal information to the unions, such as cellphone numbers and email addresses.

The NLRB will now review the public comments and determine whether to put this Final Rule back on the drawing board.

For additional information on this or any related topic, please contact Indiana labor and employment law attorney Jake Fulcher at (812) 423-3183 or jfulcher@KDDK.com, or contact any member of the KDDK Labor & Employment Law Practice Team.

About the Author

Jake Fulcher

Jake Fulcher, an Indiana labor and employment law attorney, is a partner at Kahn, Dees, Donovan & Kahn, LLP, in Evansville, Indiana. Jake represents a broad base of employers, including both private and public employers located in the U.S. and abroad, in all aspects of labor and employment law. Jake devotes much of his practice to daily client counseling, developing best practices, and providing management and supervisor training on a variety of labor and employment-related issues. He also reviews and drafts employment contracts, consulting agreements, handbooks, non-compete/trade-secret agreements and severance packages.

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