Dec 2011 , Vol. VI, No.1

All Employers Must Post A New NLRB Poster By January 31, 2012

Authored Anne G. Bibeau, Esquire

If you have employees, you know (or should know) that you are required by law to post several notices to your employees about their rights under various laws, such as the Fair Labor Standards Act and federal discrimination laws.  Make room on your office cork board and intranet site for one more:  starting January 31, 2012, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) will require all employers to post a notice of employees’ rights to organize and join unions under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”). 

The new NLRB poster notifies employees that they have the right to organize or join a union to negotiate with their employer about wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment, to discuss their wages and benefits with co-workers and unions, and take action—including strikes and pickets—with co-workers to improve working conditions.  The poster lists other NLRB protected rights, too, and identifies actions that employers and unions cannot take.

Nearly all employers, regardless of size, are required to post the new poster, even employers without a unionized work force.  Federal contractors who are already displaying the United States Department of Labor’s notice of Employee Rights under the National Labor Relations Act do not need to add the new NLRB poster because the two are substantively identical.  Everyone else should add the new poster, which can be found on the NLRB’s website at www.nlrb.gov/poster, to the places where they post other workplace rights notices and company notices regarding personnel rules and policies.  If you typically post such information on an internet or intranet site, then you also have to post the NLRB poster there.  Finally, in addition to English, you have to post the notice in another language if at least 20% of your employees speak that language and are not proficient in English.

Authored by attorneys, these articles are meant to bring awareness to these topics and are not intended to be used as legal advice.
For more information, contact Mike at 757-446-8626 or Bill Franczek at 757-446-8600.
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