The National Labor Relations Board did not appeal to the US Supreme Court two federal court decisions invalidating the NLRB’s Notice Posting Rule. The rule would have required many private employers to display a pro-union notice of employee rights in the workplace. This means most employers can now shelve the posters they printed in 2011.
We previously posted the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit decision that struck down the NLRB poster rule in May 2013. A month later, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit also invalidated the rule. While the NLRB could have appealed those decisions, it chose not to challenge the rulings.
But not all employers can discard the posters just yet. The U.S. Department of Labor requires all federal contractors and subcontractors to post the NLRB notice, which can still be found on the NLRB’s website. This rule was created by the President through an executive order and went into effect on June 21, 2010. This executive order is currently being challenged in the courts.
In a statement issued on January 6, 2014, the NLRB reported that it “remains committed to ensuring that workers, businesses and labor organizations are informed of their rights and obligations under the National Labor Relations Act. Therefore, the NLRB will continue its national outreach program to educate the American public about the statute.” Thus, while there may be no poster, we can continue to expect decisions from the NLRB that affect most private employers in 2014.