On April 28, 2012, a federal judge with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia cleared the way for the National Labor Relations Board's expedited-election rule. It is effective today, Monday, April 30th.
The judge's order is not a substantive ruling on the new regulations, which remain the subject of litigation. Rather, the order comes as a ruling on the request of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to temporarily enjoin the new rules until after a final ruling. The judge denied that request, refused to issue a temporary injunction, and the rules now go into effect.
That said, the court expects to issue a formal ruling on the merits by May 15, before any election under the new rule would likely take place. In the meantime, we encourage employers to take advantage of this rapidly closing window of opportunity by moving forward with plans to: 1) reevaluate your current employee relations programs; 2) identify, confirm and properly train all frontline supervisors; and 3) implement other proactive steps designed to help make unions unnecessary.
Please see full publication below for more information.