The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has filed suit against the new rule. It is believed a formal ruling on the rule will be delivered before May 15, so no elections will have time to take place beforehand.
Under this new rule designed to reduce the unnecessary litigation, the election process for determining unions will be drastically shorter and more streamlined. Most eligibility reviews will take place after the election instead of before, like the past.
Also, this new rule gives more power to the NLRB Regional Directors and Hearing Officers who can speed up the process as well. Conceivably, under the new NLRB rule, an election process that use to take no less than six weeks could be finished in three weeks.
Unions will now have a substantial voting advantage over the employers. Employees will have to vote in a state of confusion and at the height of their ill feelings. Already, unions had a 70 percent success rate under the old rules and this percentage is likely to increase..
There are five ways to help prepare your company and no time to waste.
1) Review any and all current employee relation programs. Then make improvements so your employees are more engaged and happy.
2) Devise an effective and robust communication system to meet your employees in the channels they like (in-person, brochure, email, social media, etc.).
3) Reduce perceptions of unfairness and/or bias and show how much you care about your employees by they way they are managed.
4) Properly and continuously train your frontline managers on all the important changes, rules, best practices, etc.
5) Be on guard and prepared with a detailed proactive plan and message.
For more information, contact 770.248.0401.
