NLRB Abandons the Notice Posting Rule

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) took the surprising step of dropping its efforts to defend its recent “Poster Rule” in court.

In our last post about the NLRB notice posting rule – or “Poster Rule,” which required most employers to post an 11” x 17” notice informing employees of their right under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to organize – we explained that the state of the rule was in flux due to a number of pending appeals.

This week, the NLRB took the surprising step of dropping its efforts to defend the rule in court.  The Board declined to appeal two decisions by the federal courts of appeal which had struck down the rule: the first, in May 2013, holding that the rule violated the First Amendment, and the second, in June 2013, holding that the Board had no authority to make the rule in the first place.

In light of this development, employers are free to remove the poster, if they wish, as the Board has declared that the poster is voluntary.  Stay tuned, however: there is little doubt the Board still wants all workers to be informed about their right to organize, and may seek to promulgate a modified version of the Poster Rule in the coming months or years.

Photo Credit: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nSwQwhvYQG0/Tc2Ddp3Dp_I/AAAAAAAAAI8/0xkcI-pzMEo/s1600/DSC_0030.JPG