On August 24, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced a new final rule for union elections that revives the prior "ambush election" rules. The new rule compresses the time period between the time a representation petition is filed and the actual election. The impact of the rule is to make it more difficult for employers to educate employees about unions and unionization prior to a vote.
The new final "Representation-Case Procedures" rule, which will be formally published on August 25, 2023, rescinds the remaining aspects of the current 2019 rule and returns the Board to its prior 2014 rule, known as the notorious "quickie" or "ambush" election rules. The new rule sets an extremely aggressive timeline for moving toward a union election, restricts regional directors' discretion in procedural matters, and limits the time period for employers to consider important unit composition and election details. The Board made these changes through direct rulemaking without the typical, careful notice-and-comment process, stating that it is merely rescinding provisions from the 2019 rule and replacing them with the prior 2014 rule.
According to the NLRB, the...
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