On May 7, 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit struck down the National Labor Relations Board’s controversial August 2011 Notice Posting Rule, which would have required employers to conspicuously display a notice informing employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). In National Association of Manufacturers, et al. v. NLRB, the court invalidated the rule because it found all three of the rule’s enforcement mechanisms unlawful.
The D.C. Circuit’s ruling represents another notable setback for the NLRB, as the same court recently held in Noel Canning v. NLRB that President Barack Obama’s January 2012 recess appointments to the NLRB were invalid. The Noel Canning decision puts numerous NLRB decisions at risk. The National Association of Machinists decision raises questions about some other employment-related posters from agencies beyond the NLRB.
