Employers Relieved (once again) from Obligation to Post the Notice of Employee Rights

In a series of rapid developments over the last ten days, employers have been relieved once again from the obligation to post the Notice of Employee Rights the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) mandated employers to display by April 30, 2012. Two federal district courts, including a federal judge in South Carolina who just last week rejected the entire posting requirement, reached conflicting decisions on whether the NLRB could impose such a requirement and, if so, what penalties could be imposed for failure to post. Then, late last week the federal circuit court of appeal in Washington D.C. issued an order temporarily enjoining the NLRB from enforcing the rule. The NLRB this week issued a memorandum stating that in view of these decisions, it would refrain for the time being from enforcing the rule nationwide. The NLRB stated as follows:

In light of conflicting decisions at the district court level, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals has temporarily enjoined the NLRB’s rule requiring the posting of employee rights, which had been scheduled to take effect on April 30, 2012.In view of the DC Circuit’s order, and in light of the strong interest in the uniform implementation and administration of agency rules, regional offices will not implement the rule pending the resolution of the issues before the court.

Weare aware of some employers who have posted the notice already, either believing that the requirement would be imposed or through inadvertence, not realizing that the notice is already incorporated into the combined federal notices issued by many vendors (commonly referred to as the “all-in-one "posters). We recommend that Employers who have already posted remove the poster until the NLRB or the courts issue further decisions.