25 Days or Less
By Ruder Ware Alumni
May 16, 2014
The notion of 25 days or less is the new watch word for the National Labor Relations Board and the proposed rules on “quickie elections.” The NLRB has promulgated new rules that are subject to public comment which would expedite the union election process to be less than 25 days from the filing of a petition by a union seeking to represent employees of a company. This compares to an average of 38 days under the current rules regarding a union election. The importance of this time differential is that it reduces the amount of time that a company can campaign against the union election.
Over the next several weeks, we will give you information about the proposed rules that create a new “quickie election” process. It is very important that non-union employers recognize that the union election process will change drastically under these proposed rules. Unions will be allowed to file a union election petition and have the election held in a very short timeframe even if there is still confusion and disagreement over which employees should be eligible to vote in the election.
One of the mainstays of the proposed rule is that a Regional Director of the NLRB must schedule a hearing within seven days of the date of service of the election petition on the employer unless special circumstances exist. The current rule allows for the scheduling of a hearing within 14 days, so the timeline is cut in half. This hearing is used to determine whether certain employees are eligible to vote in the election, such as employees that are considered supervisors. Currently, an employer is allowed to file a written brief within seven days after a hearing to determine the eligibility of certain employees. Under the proposed rule, there would be no allowing for a post-hearing brief unless approval is given by the Regional Director. This again reduces the amount of time from the filing of the petition to the actual date of the election.
Watch our blog for some additional information about the proposed NLRB rule on “quickie elections.”
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