NLRB "Poster Rule"

On August 30, 2011, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued its “poster rule,” a new employer requirement to post a detailed, and arguably biased, notice about the National Labor Relations Act and unionization rights. According to the NLRB, the poster requirement covers apartment companies with a gross annual revenue of $500,000 or more.

The rule," which was originally set to go into effect November 14, 2011 was delayed until April 30, 2012 in response to a request from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. It was initially postponed until January 31, 2012 in response to concerns raised by the business community about the poster’s biased language favoring unions and the Board’s legal authority to promulgate the rule.

On April 17, 2012, a federal appeals court again blocked the NLRB from moving forward with it. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit granted an emergency motion stopping the rule from taking effect pending the court’s review of a legal challenge to it (National Assn. of Manufacturers v. NLRB, No. 12-5068-CV-01629, Order, (U.S. App. DC April 17, 2012)). An earlier lower court ruling on March 2 let the posting requirement stand, although it invalidated the rule’s primary enforcement provision, which would have made noncompliance an unfair labor practice under the National Labor Relations Act.

In a separate legal challenge to the rule by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a federal district court in South Carolina invalidated the rule entirely on April 13 (Chamber of Commerce of the U.S. v. NLRB, No. 2:11-CV-02516-DCN, Order (D. SC. April 13, 2012)).

The outlook for the rule is uncertain at this point pending judicial review. The D.C. Court of Appeals issued an expedited briefing schedule aiming for oral arguments in September.

Matthew Berger mberger@nmhc.org

NLRB "Poster Rule"

April 25, 2012

Staff Resource

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