Are there special posting requirements for unionized workplaces?

On January 30, 2009, President Barack Obama issued Executive Order 13496 entitled Notification of Employee Rights under Federal Labor Law. The Order requires federal contractors to inform their employees of all protected rights under the National Labor Relations Act. In addition, the Order requires that, where applicable, all federal government contacting departments and agencies include certain provisions in their covered government contracts, and that federal contractors and subcontractors include those provisions in their nonexempt subcontracts. These provisions include posting of the required notice and also explain the sanctions, penalties, and remedies that may be imposed if the contractor or subcontractor fails to comply with its obligations under the Order. Covered government contractors and subcontractors must include these same provision in their nonexempt subcontracts, so that the provision will be binding upon each subcontractor.

Revocation of prior Executive Order. President Obama’s Order, which was effective immediately, revoked Executive Order 13201, signed by President George W. Bush on February 17, 2001. That Order required nonexempt federal contractors to post a notice, known as the Beck poster, to inform employees of their statutorily-protected Beck rights, specifically that employees cannot be required to join or maintain membership in a union in order to keep their jobs; under certain conditions, the law permits a union and an employer to enter into a union security agreement requiring employees to pay dues and fees to the union; and even where such union-security agreements exist, employees who are not union members can only be required to pay their share of union costs relating to certain specific activities-they can refuse to pay any dues that do not support collective bargaining, contract administration or grievance adjustment.

In April 2009, the Labor Department's Office of Labor Management Standards revoked regulations implementing President Bush’s Order. Those regulations authorized the Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program to conduct compliance evaluations to determine whether contractors holding nonexempt contacts were in compliance with Bush's Order.

Required notice. President Obama’s Executive Order requires non-exempt federal contractors and subcontractors to post a notice, the content of which is to be prescribed by the Secretary of Labor, to inform their employees of their rights under the NLRA. The Order assigns its administration and enforcement to the Secretary of Labor and requires the Secretary to adopt rules and regulations and issue such orders necessary to achieve the purposes of the Order.