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.

This final rule rescinds the amendments to the National Labor Relations Board's (the Board's) representation case procedures adopted by the Board's final rule of December 22, 2011, consistent with the district court's decision in Chamber of Commerce of the U.S. v. NLRB setting aside that rule. On December 9, 2013, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit dismissed the Board's appeal of the district court's decision, pursuant to the parties' stipulation. Now that the district court's decision is no longer subject to appellate review, this final rule restores the relevant language in the CFR to that which existed before the Board issued the December 22, 2011 final rule.

This notice advises the public that the National Labor Relations Board is restructuring and realigning the location and lines of authority of certain of its Headquarters' offices to create an independent Division of Legal Counsel reporting to the Office of the General Counsel. These administrative changes are being adopted in order to centralize the services of several Headquarters' offices, eliminate duplication of functions, improve the delivery of services, and streamline, integrate and enhance management functions.

On July 23, 2012, the National Labor Relations Board amended the memorandum describing the authority and assigned responsibilities of the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board with respect to administrative functions to establish an Office of the Chief Financial Officer and to reestablish lines of authority within the administrative structure of the Agency. This amendment makes corrections in certain paragraph references required due to the renumbering of paragraphs in the July 23 amendment.

The National Labor Relations Board is amending the memorandum describing the authority and assigned responsibilities of the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board with respect to administrative functions. The revisions are being adopted in order to establish an Office of the Chief Financial Officer and to reestablish lines of authority within the administrative structure of the Agency.

On June 22, 2011, the National Labor Relations Board (the Board) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking proposing various amendments of 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. Thereafter, on December 22, 2011, the National Labor Relations Board issued a final rule amending its regulations, taking effect on April 30, 2012. The final rule stated that any dissenting or concurring statements would be published separately in the Federal Register prior to the effective date of the rule. The purpose of this document is to publish the separate statements of Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce and Member Brian E. Hayes. Pursuant to the Board's order providing for publication of the rule and the separate statements, neither statement constitutes part of the rule or modifies the rule or the Board's approval of the rule in any way.

The National Labor Relations Board (the Board or the NLRB) is revising its rules governing the processing of representation cases during periods when the Board lacks a quorum of Members. This revision is being adopted to facilitate, insofar as it is possible, the normal functioning of the Agency when the number of Board Members falls below three, the number required to establish a quorum of the Board. See 29 U.S.C. 153(b); New Process Steel v. NLRB, 130 S.Ct. 2635 (2010). The effect of the revision is to enable the Agency to process some representation cases to the certification of a representative or the certification of the results of the election, while deferring Board consideration of parties' requests for review until a quorum has been restored.

On June 22, 2011, the National Labor Relations Board (the Board) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing various amendments of 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. This document explains which of the proposed amendments the Board is adopting at this time in the final rule and sets forth the Board's responses to comments concerning those proposals. The Board believes that the final rule will reduce unnecessary litigation in representation cases and thereby enable the Board to better fulfill its duty to expeditiously resolve questions concerning representation. The final rule will also save time and resources for the parties and the agency. The final rule will focus pre-election hearings on those issues relevant to determining if there is a question concerning representation, provide for pre-election briefing only when it will assist the decision makers, reduce piecemeal appeals to the Board, consolidate requests for Board review of regional directors' pre- and post-election determinations into a single, post-election request, make Board review of post-election regional determinations discretionary, and eliminate duplicative regulations. The final rule will 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 and certifying the results.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) invites interested parties to attend an open meeting of the Board on November 30, 2011, at 2:30 p.m. The meeting will be held in the Board Agenda Room (Room 11820), National Labor Relations Board, 1099 14th Street NW., Washington, DC 20570. The purpose of the meeting will be to vote on how to proceed in this rulemaking proceeding. No public testimony or comments will be received.

On August 30, 2011, the National Labor Relations Board (Board) published a final rule requiring employers, including labor organizations in their capacity as employers, subject to the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to post notices informing their employees of their rights as employees under the NLRA. The Board hereby amends that rule to change the effective date from November 14, 2011, to January 31, 2012. The purpose of this delay is to allow for enhanced education and outreach to employers.