NLRB Revises Election Rules Again

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) published 25 revisions to its longstanding election rules in December 2014. Proponents of those changes, which took effect in 2015, promoted them as streamlining the election process. Critics denounced them as undermining the freedom of employee choice that the original election procedures were intended to provide by, among other things, precluding sufficient time for pre-election campaigning to inform employees before they voted. Critics dubbed the changes at the time as the "ambush" election rules. On Dec. 13, 2019, the NLRB announced a final rule further amending its election rules that will add more time back into the election procedures and promote more transparency and fairness. One member has dissented from the new rule, and the NLRB's decision not to allow comment before finalizing the rule based upon its view that the changes are merely procedural might provide a basis for challenge. The new rule will be published in