In February, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) re-issued its proposed amendments to the rules and procedures governing union elections, sometimes referred to as the “quickie election” or “ambush election” rules.  These rules are meant to reduce the time period for holding union elections from approximately six weeks to approximately three weeks from the date of the filing of the union request for an election with the NLRB.

The rules are identical to previous proposed rules published in June 2011.   Those 2011 proposed rules resulted in more than 65,00o public comments in addition to two days of comments at a public hearing. Major portions of those proposed rules were implemented in April 2012; however, it was quickly struck down by a federal district court on the basis that the NLRB lacked a quorum when it issued the final rule.

The deadline for comments on the February proposed amendments is set for April 7.  The NLRB will also hold a public hearing that same week.  In a recent employment law bulletin, NCC member Wimberly, Lawson, Steckel, Schneider & Stine provides more information on the proposed amendments and discusses the reasons why employers should be concerned about the proposed rules.

The bulletin also discusses the ramifications of  the U.S. Supreme Court donning and doffing ruling in January.  The bulletin is available here.