MARCH 21, 2012

As of April 30, 2012, most private sector employers will be required to post the attached notice advising employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act. Download Here

This new posting is mandatory regardless of your company’s union status. It applies to union and non-union workplaces alike. Noncompliance can be treated as an unfair labor practice and can be used as damaging evidence in a lawsuit.

All U.S. employers must display the new poster with limited exceptions. At this time, the requirement does not apply to agricultural, railroad or airline employers -- or the U.S. Postal Service. Additionally, some very small employers and retailers may not be required to post.The Notice should be posted in conspicuous places, where other workplace rights notices and company notices concerning personnel rules or policies are customarily posted. Reasonable steps should be taken to ensure the Notice is not altered, defaced, or covered by any other material, or otherwise rendered unreadable.The Notice must be posted in English and in another language if at least 20% of employees are not proficient in English and speak the other language.

The NLRB does not audit workplaces or initiate enforcement actions on its own, nor does it have the ability to assess fines or penalties.A failure to post the Notice would need to be brought to the NLRB’s attention in the form of an unfair labor practice charge by employees, unions, or other persons. In most cases, the NLRB expects that employers who fail to post the Notice were unaware of the rule and will comply when requested by a NLRB agent. In such cases, the unfair labor practice case will typically be closed without further action. The NLRB also may extend the 6-month statute of limitations for filing a charge involving other unfair labor practice allegations against the employer. If an employer knowingly and willfully fails to post the Notice, that failure may be considered evidence of unlawful motive in an unfair labor practice case involving other alleged violations of the NLRA.

The posting of NLRA rights was proposed by the NLRB in a federal rulemaking procedure in December 2010. The proposal was posted in the Federal Register and public comments were accepted for a 60-day period. The NLRB received nearly 7,000 comments. The final rule was posted in the Federal Register on August 30, and was set to take effect 75 days later, on November 14, 2011. The effective date was later changed to April 30, 2012.