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Law360 (May 6, 2020, 4:52 PM EDT ) Employers that have closed during the coronavirus pandemic and are penalized by the National Labor Relations Board for violating workers' labor rights don't have to notify workers of the board's findings until after they reopen, the NLRB said Wednesday in a novel ruling.
The NLRB's requirement that employers disclose adverse rulings and remind workers of their rights within two weeks holds true for employers that are "open and staffed by a substantial complement of employees," the board said Wednesday. But for closed businesses, that two-week clock doesn't start ticking until after they reopen "and a substantial complement of employees have returned to work," the board said.
Further, employers can't post notices until that "substantial complement" of workers has returned, the board said. These delays likewise apply to employers that usually communicate with workers "by electronic means" and must disseminate notices that way under board rules, the board said.
The board set out this policy in a ruling that Danbury Ambulance Service Inc. interfered with workers' rights by trash-talking the New England Health Care Employees Union District 1199 SEIU and withholding certain information the union requested. The board issued its decision by default because the company did not contest the union's claims.
The ruling adjusts the board's so-called notice posting requirement. When the board finds a company violated workers' rights, it orders certain remedies to correct those violations and makes the company post a conspicuous pledge to follow the law and leave it in place for 60 days.
But that policy doesn't make sense "with so many businesses closed due to the pandemic," the board said.
"It seems likely that many respondents may be unable to comply with the standard 14-day posting deadline," the board said. And it would defeat "the whole point" of the posting rule if workers aren't around to read the notice, the board said.
An NLRB representative declined to comment Wednesday.
The union is represented by Kevin Creane.
Attorney information for the company was not available Wednesday.
The case is Danbury Ambulance Service Inc. and New England Health Care Employees Union, District 1199, SEIU, cases 01–CA–238987 and 01–CA–240229, before the National Labor Relations Board.
--Editing by Alyssa Miller.
Update: This story has been updated with more details from the ruling and with case and counsel information.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
