NLRB Issues Final Rule Speeding Up Union Election Procedures

This week, the United States National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a final rule modifying certain procedures relating to union representation elections. The rule, which will go into effect as of December 26, 2023, reverses a rule issued in 2019 by the Trump administration and largely reverts the applicable procedures to those issued in 2014 by the Obama administration. The changes are intended to streamline and speed up the election process.

The new rule specifies the following:

• The pre-election hearing will be held 8 calendar days from service of a Notice of Hearing, down from 14 calendar days in the 2019 rule;
• Regional directors may postpone a pre-election hearing for 2 business days upon a party's showing of "extraordinary circumstances"—a change from the 2019 rule under which a postponement could be indefinite and made upon a showing of "good cause";