As we reported earlier, on April 13, 2012, a federal judge in South Carolina ruled that the National Labor Relations Board (“the Board”) had no authority to require private-sector employers to post an Employee Rights Notice, disagreeing with another federal judge in the District of Columbia, who held on March 2 that the Board could require the posting.
Earlier today, the D.C. Circuit granted the National Association of Manufacturer’s emergency motion for an injunction pending appeal because of the split of opinion between the district courts. Nat’l Assoc. of Mfrs. v. NLRB, No. 12-5068 (D.C. Cir. April 17, 2012). The Circuit reasoned: “The uncertainty about enforcement counsels further in favor of temporarily preserving the status quo while this court resolves all of the issues on the merits.” The Circuit will handle this appeal in an “expedited” manner, and the court will hear oral arguments in September.
This afternoon the Board issued a press release, which stated: “In view of the D.C. Circuit’s order, and in light of the strong interest in the uniform implementation and administration of agency rules, regional offices will not implement the rule pending the resolution of the issues before the court.”
Bottom Line
While the injunction remains in force, employers do not need to post this notice. We will be closely following this issue and stay tuned for further developments.