Another Reason To Avoid A Mail Ballot Election

In a recent blog post ( here), we discussed the Board decision changing the rule concerning captive audience speeches in mail-ballot elections by setting the prohibition (on such speeches) to start 24 hours before the Region is scheduled to mail the ballots, rather than from the date and time the mail ballots are to be mailed.  This decision means that employers now have one less day to hold campaign-related meetings with their employees. In Premier Utility Services, LLC, 363 NLRB No. 159 (April 5, 2016) (decision), the Board has given employers yet another reason to try to avoid mail ballot elections.  In that case, the Regional Director refused to count 48 ballots that were postmarked before the voting period ended.  Instead, the union was certified as the bargaining representative based on only 34 votes out of 101 eligible voters.