Union elections are set to speed up and simplify following a decision by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to restore procedures in place before the Trump presidency.
Here’s what HR pros should know about that move, as well as new priorities recently laid out by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
Union elections to be held without delay. HR pros should prepare for union elections to take place quicker under a final rule issued by the NLRB on August 25. This rule “substantially returns” to union representation procedures set forth in 2014 under an Obama-era rule that sought to simplify and modernize the union election process, and was subsequently amended in 2019.
Under the recently-issued rule, which takes effect in December 2023, workers who file a petition to form a union will be entitled to a pre-election hearing more quickly, with the NLRB seeking to schedule them “10 days sooner than under the 2019 rule.” These preliminary hearings won’t take into account a proposed bargaining unit, referring to employees that would be represented by the union—questions of inclusion will typically take place after elections, the NLRB said.
Additionally, employers will have two business days to inform employees they’ve received a petition for a union election, up from five business days under the previous rule.
NLRB regional directors will also schedule union elections at “the earliest date practicable” once a decision is made to hold one, eliminating a 20-business day waiting period that had been in place.
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“By removing unnecessary delays from the election process, the new rule supports these important goals, and allows workers to more effectively exercise their fundamental rights,” NLRB Chairperson Lauren McFerran said in a statement.
EEOC will focus on systemic discrimination. The EEOC on August 22 laid out its strategic priorities for fiscal years 2022–2026. The document includes plans to expand the agency’s “capacity to eliminate systemic barriers to equal opportunity in the workplace,” as well as training staff to identify and investigate cases of systemic discrimination.
HR departments should consider reviewing both these priorities, as well as a strategic enforcement plan released earlier this year, in order to align their policies and practices with what the EEOC intends to focus on in the coming years.
Under the proposed strategic enforcement plan, the EEOC is seeking to prioritize workers that have been historically underserved by federal discrimination protections, including those with intellectual and developmental disabilities, people with a criminal record, and LGBTQ+ individuals. The agency also intends to monitor employers’ use of AI in hiring and recruiting, and focus on employment discrimination related to Covid-19 or the recently-enacted Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
“The EEOC will likely be more aggressive in pursuing enforcement actions around these priorities than what we have seen from [them] in recent years,” Andrew Turnbull, an attorney with Morrison Foerster, told SHRM of the strategic plan in February.