The National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB” or “Board”) union election procedures take effect on April 16, modifying many aspects of the Obama Administration’s 2014 “Quickie Election” rule.  Changes include:

1. Pre-election Hearing Date: The pre-election hearing will generally be scheduled to open 14 business days (currently, eight business days) from notice of the hearing.
   
   
2. Notice of Petition: The employer will be required to post and distribute the Notice of Petition for Election within five business days (currently, two business days) after service of the notice of hearing.
   
   
3. Statement of Position: Non-petitioning parties will be required to file and serve the Statement of Position within eight business days (currently, seven calendar days) after service of the notice of hearing, and regional directors will have the discretion to permit additional time for filing and service for good cause.
   
   
4. Responsive Statement of Position: Petitioners will be required to file and serve a Responsive Statement of Position on the other parties responding to the issues raised by any non-petitioning party in a Statement of Position.  The responsive statement will be due at noon three business days before the hearing is scheduled to open.  Current rules require the petitioner to respond orally to the Statement(s) of Position at the start of the pre-election hearing.
   
   
5. Unit scope and voter eligibility: Disputes concerning unit scope and voter eligibility—including issues of supervisory status—will be litigated at the pre-election hearing and resolved by the regional director before an election is directed.  The parties may, however, agree to let disputed employees vote subject to challenge and defer litigation concerning such disputes until after the election.  The current rules provide that disputes “concerning individuals' eligibility to vote or inclusion in an appropriate unit ordinarily need not be litigated or resolved before an election is conducted.”
   
   
6. Post-Election and Post-Hearing Briefs: Parties will be able to file post-hearing briefs with the regional director following pre-election and post-election hearings.  Briefs will be due within five business days of the close of the hearing, although hearing officers may grant an extension of up to 10 additional business days for good cause.  Under the current rules, briefs are permitted only upon special permission of the regional director.
   
   
7. Notice of Election: The current rule provides that regional directors “ordinarily will” specify election details in the direction of election.  The new rule emphasizes the regional director’s discretion to issue a Notice of Election after issuing a direction of election.  The Board, however, notes that it “anticipates that regional directors will still ‘ordinarily’ include the election details in the direction of election.”
   
   
8. No More “Quickie” Elections: The current rule states that the regional director “shall schedule the election for the earliest date practicable,” which sometimes means elections are held in less than two weeks following the filing of a petition.  Under the new rule, the regional director will continue to schedule the election for the earliest date practicable, but—absent waiver by the parties—normally will not schedule an election before the 20th business day after the date of the direction of election.
   
   
9. Ballot Impoundment: Where a request for review of a direction of election is filed within 10 business days of that direction, if the Board has not ruled on the request, or has granted it, before the conclusion of the election, ballots whose validity might be affected by the Board's ruling on the request or decision on review will be segregated and all ballots will be impounded and remain unopened pending such ruling or decision.  A party may still file a request for review of a direction of election more than 10 business days after the direction, but the pendency of such a request for review will not require impoundment of the ballots.

Other changes include:

• Formatting and procedural requirements for all types of requests for reviews have been systematized. All requests for review and oppositions are now subject to the same formatting requirements.
• A party may not request review of only part of a regional director’s action in one request for review and subsequently request review of another part of that same action.
• The employer now has five business days (currently, two business days) to furnish the required voter list following the issuance of the direction of election.
• In selecting election observers, whenever possible a party will select a current member of the voting unit; when no such individual is available, a party should select a current nonsupervisory employee.
• The regional director will no longer certify the results of an election if a request for review is pending or before the time has passed during which a request for review could be filed.

The final rule is available here.