On April 28, 2012, a federal judge with the U.S. District Court
for the District of Columbia cleared the way for the National Labor
Relations Board's expedited-election rule. It was effective on
April 30th.
The judge's order is not a substantive ruling on the new
regulations, which remain the subject of litigation. Rather, the
order comes as a ruling on the request of the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce to temporarily enjoin the new rules until after a final
ruling. The judge denied that request, refused to issue a temporary
injunction, and the rules now go into effect.
That said, the court expects to issue a formal ruling on the
merits by May 15, before any election under the new rule would
likely take place. In the meantime, we encourage employers to take
advantage of this rapidly closing window of opportunity by moving
forward with plans to: 1) reevaluate your current employee
relations programs; 2) identify, confirm and properly train all
frontline supervisors; and 3)
