NLRB delays official demise of ‘quickie’ union elections until May 31

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has been finalizing a set of changes to its union election framework, including undoing the so-called “quickie” elections introduced during the Obama administration. The NLRB originally intended for the new, employer-friendly election procedures to take effect on April 16, 2020, but the date has now been pushed back six more weeks, to May 31.

Legal challenge brings about brief postponement

Before the Obama-era rules were introduced in 2014, union elections were typically held about 42 calendar days after the filing of a petition. The “quickie” election rules greatly accelerated the pace, shortening the period to between 21 and 32 calendar days. As a result, employers have had fewer opportunities to tell employees about the potential downsides of organizing.

In late 2019, the NLRB (via rulemaking) announced several important changes to how it will process union certification and decertification elections. The new procedures—restoring the longer time frames between petition and election—were supposed to go into effect on April 16, but the AFL-CIO recently sued to block them and asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to enjoin them. Consequently, the Board then delayed the implementation date until May 31 to “facilitate the resolution of legal challenges.”