NLRB
delays poster requirement until Jan. 31, 2012
The National
Labor Relations Board has announced it is pushing back the
date by which employers are required to post a new workplace
notice of employees' right to organize into unions.
The NLRB says
its notice-posting rule will take effect Jan. 31, 2012,
rather than the original deadline of Nov. 14, 2011. In a press
release, the NLRB said it postponed the mandate's
effective date to "allow for enhanced education and outreach
to employers, particularly those who operate small and
medium sized businesses."
On Sept. 23, the
National Restaurant Association, as an executive committeee member
of the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, joined in a
National Association of Manufacturers' lawsuit against the
NLRB to block the notice-posting requirement. That and other
lawsuits continue to move forward despite the NLRB's
decision to postpone the requirement's effective date.
The NRA and many
other business groups have from the beginning questioned the
NLRB's authority to impose such a mandate. The NRA and 31
state restaurant associations filed
comments last February asking
the NLRB to withdraw the proposal, first issued in December.
The NRA said the proposal "would mandate the posting of both
misleading information to employees and lead to
miscommunication between workers and managers."
The NLRB finalized
the poster rule in late August, despite comments
from the National Restaurant Association and thousands of
other employers and employer groups protesting the
regulation.
The new regulation for the first time will require all
employers subject to the National Labor Relations Act to
post a conspicuous 11"
x 17" poster outlining
employees' rights to organize and bargain collectively.
