In its Jan. 29 decision in Guardsmark, LLC, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) extended its restriction on captive audience meetings in the run up to a mail ballot union election by an additional 24 hours. Captive-audience meetings occur when an employer holds a group campaign meeting with employee voters during work hours to oppose union representation. The NLRB prohibits these meetings in the 24 hours leading up to the “scheduled time for conducting” a manual election; however, the NLRB had not imposed a similar preliminary ban in mail ballot elections until the Guardsmark decision.

Prior to its recent decision, the NLRB only prohibited captive-audience meetings between the scheduled mailing and return of the ballots; however, Guardsmark adds an additional day to the restriction. Specifically, the NLRB identifies the scheduled mailing as the “time for conducting” the election. As a result, the NLRB now bans captive-audience meetings in the 24 hours before the Regional Office is scheduled to mail election ballots, expanding the 24-hour restriction in place for manual voting to cover mail ballot elections as well.

Click here to view the Guardsmark, LLC decision.