The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued its final rule for “modernizing” its election procedures on Friday, December 12, 2014.

The Board has adopted the majority of what was originally proposed. This means that employers can expect elections will happen much quicker—probably in the 21-24 day range. Employers will also be required to disclose phone numbers and email addresses within two days of the election agreement. In addition, many unit issues will be decided post-election to avoid delay.

The Board’s press release and a table comparing current procedures to the newly adopted ones can be found here.

The final rule follows the NLRB announcement on Wednesday, December 10, 2014, concerning the use of employer email during organizing campaigns. No surprise: Employees have free reign to use employer email to organize. See our blog post on this topic here.