Categories: Hospitality

By:  Kara M. Maciel

On August 25, 2011, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) adopted a final rule to require all employers to post a notice of employee rights under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”). The required posting provides information to employees about the right to organize a union, bargain collectively, and engage in protected concerted activity – as well as the right to refrain from such activity. Significantly, this posting requirement is required for all hospitality employers – large and small -- regardless of whether your operations are unionized or not.  

Now, the NLRB has postponed the deadline to post the notice from November 14, 2011 to January 31, 2012.  The NLRB stated the extension was “in order to allow for enhanced education and outreach to employers, particularly those who operate small and medium sized businesses.”   A copy of the notice is now available on the NLRB’s website .    

Failing to post the required notice after January 31, 2012 could lead to an unfair labor practice. The NLRB may extend the 6-month statute of limitations for filing a charge involving other unfair labor practice allegations against the employer as a result of the failure to post the notice. A willful failure to post the notice may also be considered evidence of unlawful motive in an unfair labor practice case involving other alleged violations of the NLRA. 

Hospitality employers should communicate now with all their managers and supervisors about the do’s and don’ts of union organizing and what they can and cannot say to employees who have questions in light of the NLRB’s poster.  Many clients have asked whether they should post their own "notice" next to the NLRB's poster.  For several reasons, such a posting could cause more harm than good.  First, it could draw unncessary attention to the NLRB posting and raise more questions from employees.  But more importantly, the NLRB is increasingly aggressive in ferreting out potential unfair labor practices, espcially those that indicate union animus, regardless of the unionized status of the workplace.  The NLRB could use the employer's poster as evidence of union animus, similar to its practice of using an employer's handbook policies as evidence of union animus, against employers.  Rather than posting a competing notice, a training and communication message to employees is essential.  Through strategic verbal communication strategies, employers can effectively defend against union interference and business interruption.

Back to Workforce Bulletin Blog

Search This Blog

Blog Editors

Related Services

Topics

Archives

Jump to Page

Subscribe

Sign up to receive an email notification when new Workforce Bulletin posts are published:

Privacy Preference Center

When you visit any website, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. This information might be about you, your preferences or your device and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to. The information does not usually directly identify you, but it can give you a more personalized web experience. Because we respect your right to privacy, you can choose not to allow some types of cookies. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings. However, blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.

Performance Cookies

These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.