An Article to assist employers prepare for the National Labor Relations Board's (NLRB) amended regulations and procedures effective April 30, 2012 regarding union representation elections under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). This Article outlines the expected changes to the NLRB's union election process and steps for employers to prepare their organization's message to employees about unions and ensure that they can present appropriate issues for the NLRB's review.

The NLRB first adopted these changes in a final rule published December 22, 2011 and rescinded them on January 15, 2014 (see Legal Update, NLRB Formally Rescinds Amendments to its Representation Case Procedures). On February 6, 2014, the NLRB issued a new proposed rule to change its union election process in the same ways it had through its previous rulemaking (see Legal Update, NLRB Again Proposes Amendments to Hasten Union Election Procedures). The NLRB's final rule from the recent rulemaking is effective April 14, 2015 and more greatly affects the NLRB's union election process than the amendments discussed in this resource (see Legal Update, NLRB Amends Union Representation and Election Procedures to Hasten Election Process).