A lot of people have been writing about a recent court ruling that upheld significant portions of a new NLRB-promulgated poster that will get put up on a wall in some common area.

I’ve been reluctant to write about it because, as I mentioned back in the fall, things continue to change on this particular poster.  There is still another lawsuit about this poster out there and an appeal that is happening too.

So, where do things stand now?

Right now, the posting requirement is still scheduled to go into effect on April 30, 2012 with some minor modifications.

What did the court’s latest order say? Labor Relations Today has a good recap:

In the order issued on Friday, March 2 in National Association of Manufacturers v. NLRB, Case No. 11-CV-1629 (D.D.C. Mar. 2, 2012), District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson held both the NLRB had authority to issue a rule requiring private-sector employers to post notices informing employees of their rights under the Act, and that the NLRB could consider an employer’s “knowing and willful” failure to post the notice as evidence of an unlawful motive. However, she struck down the portions of the NLRB’s rule that would automatically deem an employer’s failure to post the notice an unfair labor practice and that would toll the statute of limitations for unfair labor practice charges filed against employers that failed to post the notice.

What else can an employer do? Russell Cawyer of the Texas Employment Law Update suggests that employers put up the NLRB poster but also put up a poster of their own that details the employer’s view on things. 

For more on the subject, check out these posts here, here, and here. 

From my perspective, the amount of focus on posting requirement is a bit overblown. In this age of technology, employees don’t need to rely on posters in the back of a lunch room for information on their rights anymore. (And really, how many times have you REALLY seen employees even look at these.)  They can use their smart phones to check out the NLRB website from anywhere. 

Yes, it is possible that the NLRB is overstepping its authority, but employers in Connecticut have long since had to deal with numerous posting requirements.  Employers should keep up to date on whether the notices are going to go into effect but ultimately, it’s just another one brick notice on the wall. 

This poster is not to be confused with other changes to the election procedures that are also going into effect on April 30, 2012. You can read more about those changes here.

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