The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) has issued a Final Rule that will require employers to notify employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) as of November 14, 2011.

Private-sector employers whose workplaces are under NLRB jurisdiction will be required to post the employee rights notice in conspicuous places where other workplace notices are typically posted. Thus, employers who customarily post notices to employees regarding personnel rules or policies online must post the new NLRB notice on those sites. Copies of the notice will be available from the Agency’s regional offices, and it may also be downloaded from the NLRB website.

The notice, is similar to the one required by the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) for federal contractors, which states that employees have the right to act together to improve wages and working conditions, to form, join and assist a union, to bargain collectively with their employer. Unlike the DOL posting the NLRB posting also includes the right of employees to refrain from any of these activities and instructs employees how to contact the NLRB with questions or complaints. Unlike the DOL posting it provides examples of unlawful employer and union conduct. While federal contractors are subject to the new rule, contractors may comply with its provisions by posting the notices to employees required under the DOL’s notice-posting rule.  Neither the NLRB nor the DOL rules preclude employer postings by the employer explaining or elaborating on the employer’s position on union’s in the workplace.