The National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB") recently issued its final rule, as reported in an alert earlier this year, requiring all private-sector employers subject to the National Labor Relations Act (the "Act") to post a notice of employees' rights under the Act, including the right to unionize. The final rule requires employers to post an 11-inch by 17-inch notice form describing employees' rights in all areas where they customarily place notices to employees concerning personnel rules or policies. If an employer customarily uses electronic means, such as an intranet or internet site, to communicate with its employees, the employer must also publish the notice on those sites. Additionally, in workplaces where 20 percent of the employees are not proficient in English and speak another language, the employer must provide the notice in the language spoken by the employees. Employers who fail to post the required notice will be subject to liability for committing an unfair labor practice and possible tolling of the 6-month statute of limitations for the filing of other unfair labor practice charges.
The final rule is scheduled to be posted in the Federal Register on August 30, 2011, and will take effect on November 14, 2011. Copies of the notice form will be available on the NLRB website and from NLRB regional offices by November 1, 2011.
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