National Labor Relations Board – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

As part of its ongoing efforts to more effectively administer the National Labor Relations Act (the Act or the NLRA) and to further the purposes of the Act, the National Labor Relations Board (the Board) proposes to amend its rules and regulations governing the filing and processing of petitions relating to the representation of employees for purposes of collective bargaining with their employer. The Board believes that the proposed amendments would remove unnecessary barriers to the fair and expeditious resolution of questions concerning representation. The proposed amendments would simplify representation- case procedures and render them more transparent and uniform across regions, eliminate unnecessary litigation, and consolidate requests for Board review of regional directors' pre- and post-election determinations into a single, post-election request. The proposed amendments would allow the Board to more promptly determine if there is a question concerning representation and, if so, to resolve it by conducting a secret ballot election.

The Board is amending regulations concerning the procedures for filing documents with the Agency electronically. The revisions provide that when the document being filed electronically is required to be served on another party to the proceeding, the other party shall be served by electronic mail (e- mail), if possible. If electronic service is not possible, the other party shall be notified by telephone of the substance of the transmitted document and a copy of the document shall be served personally, or by registered mail, certified mail, regular mail, or private delivery service, or, with the consent of the other party, by facsimile transmission.

As part of its ongoing efforts to address the needs of employers, individuals, and labor organizations and to further the fundamental purposes of the National Labor Relations Act, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is proposing to adopt a rule that would authorize a petition for a prompt NLRB election to be jointly filed by a labor organization and an employer. The following proposal is offered to provide initial focus for public comment. The public is nevertheless encouraged to suggest alternatives.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is amending regulations concerning the procedures for filing an appeal to adverse FOIA determinations. The revisions require that appeals be filed within 28 calendar days of the service of the notification of the adverse determination.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issues a final rule exempting three systems of records and portions of four other systems of records from certain provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a, pursuant to Section (k)(2) of that Act, 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(2), and amending existing Privacy Act regulations for clarity.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) proposes to exempt three systems of records and portions of four other systems of records from certain provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a, pursuant to Section (k)(2) of that Act, 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(2), and to amend existing Privacy Act regulations for clarity.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is issuing interim regulations with a request for comments concerning the procedures used to collect debts that are owed to the NLRB. These interim regulations conform to the legislative changes enacted in the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 (DCIA) and the amended procedures presented in the Federal Claims Collection Standards (FCCS) issued by the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) and the Department of Justice (DOJ). These regulations are intended to improve the NLRB's collection of debts owed to the United States.

On July 22, 2004 the National Labor Relations Board published in the Federal Register proposed changes to its rules to provide a mechanism to have preelection disputes decided with finality by the Regional Director as part of its ongoing efforts to address the needs of employers, individuals and labor organizations and to further the fundamental purposes of the Act. One comment was received in response to this publication. The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, AFL-CIO, supported the proposed changes, but expressed the view that the changes did not address what it considered to be major problems in the Board's representation process. Upon consideration of that comment, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is adopting the proposed changes and publishing the rules as final.