Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, unions and employers alike have had to adjust to a “new normal” of mail ballot NLRB elections. Under normal circumstances, the NLRB’s preferred and standard method for conducting elections is in person, usually at the employer’s facility and – depending on the size of the voting pool – at various times throughout the workday. But in the context of the pandemic, a majority of NLRB elections have instead been conducted by mail ballot. As the Delta variant has pushed infection rates back to alarming levels in many states across the U.S., mail ballot elections may continue to be the rule rather than the exception, at least in some hard-hit areas.
With mail ballot elections, however, come many unique questions and concerns about maintaining the integrity of the voting process and effectively preventing the coercion and manipulation of employees. Two recent NLRB cases are particularly illustrative in this regard.
In Professional Transportation, Inc., 370 NLRB No. 132 (2021), the NLRB established a bright-line rule concerning voting solicitation in the mail ballot context. Moving forward, employers and unions will be deemed to have committed objectionable conduct in an NLRB mail ballot election by offering to collect employee mail-in ballots for mailing or by otherwise offering to assist in mail ballot submission. The NLRB held that such solicitation casts doubt on the integrity of the election process and the secrecy of employee ballots. Moreover, in the NLRB’s view, solicitation of mail ballots also suggests that the party engaging in such conduct is officially involved in the election process, which the Board has held is “incompatible with [its] responsibility for assuring properly conducted elections.” The Board therefore concluded that solicitation of mail ballots may be grounds for overturning election results if the solicitation affects enough votes to determine the outcome. Notably, Chairman McFerran observed in a footnote to the opinion that “it is time for the Board to reevaluate its historic preference for manual elections and to consider expanding and normalizing other ways to conduct elections on a permanent basis, including mail, telephone, and electronic voting.”
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The New York City Fair Chance Act (FCA) amendments expand protections for individuals with a criminal record and impose new obligations on employers that conduct background checks. The changes take effect July 29, 2021.
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