On April 14, 2015, the National Labor Relations Board's controversial "quickie election" rule goes into effect.  This week, the NLRB's General Counsel, Richard F. Griffin, issued a 36-page guidance memorandum outlining the Board's new representation election procedures under the rule (NLRB Office of the General Counsel, Memorandum 15-06 (April 6, 2015)).  The General Counsel asserts that the new rule does not "establish new timeframes for conducting elections or issuing decisions." However, almost every timeline for election procedures has been accelerated.  This new rule significantly tilts the NLRB's election procedures in favor of unions by reducing the normal time for NLRB elections from approximately 38  days to as little as 13 days from the filing of a petition. 

The General Counsel makes clear that this memorandum "supersedes" any other Agency manuals or guidance.  The new rule, and the General Counsel's accompanying procedures,  shortens the time between the filing of an election petition and the election, provides for electronic filing of election petitions, compels the employer to post a notice of election within two days or risk overturning the election, requires employers to provide detailed employee information in specific formats, demands that employers detail their legal positions in a Statement of Position prior to any hearing or waive any defenses not raised, allows the regional director to refuse the employer's evidence based on an offer of proof, and delays legal challenges until the NLRB conducts an election. Continue reading this entry at Littler's Workplace Policy Update.