D.C. Circuit Invalidates NLRB's Posting Rule

The U.S Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit recently struck down the National Labor Relations Board's August 2011 Notice Posting Rule, which would have required employers to conspicuously display a notice informing employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act (the "Act"). In National Association of Manufacturers, et al. v. NLRB, the court invalidated the rule because it found all three of the rule's enforcement mechanisms unlawful. A majority of the court also found that the rule exceeded the Board's rulemaking authority as delegated by Congress.

The Board's challenged rule would have forced six million employers throughout the country to post the Board's mandatory notice of employee rights to organize unions (and related topics), under threat of an unfair labor practice finding by the agency. Moreover, failure to post the required notice would have permitted the Board to extend the usual six-month statute of limitations period in unfair labor