Legislative Update...Get Ready For the Employee Free Choice Act

Have you heard about the Employee Free Choice Act ("EFCA")? In a nutshell, this legislation pending before Congress would amend the National Labor Relations Act to make it easier for employees to start unions. If passed it would:

• Allow employees to start a union if a majority of the employees sign union authorization cards;
• Require bargaining to begin within ten (10) days of union certification, with binding arbitration for negotiations unresolved after one hundred and twenty (120) days; and
  
• Level higher financial penalties on employers who fire or discriminate against unionizing employees.

A lot of small business owners do not even know this is coming. With the Democrats in charge, passage of the EFCA seems fairly certain. The question is when. At this point, it is not at all clear where the new administration is going to place this in terms of its legislative priorities. As a business owner and employer, you should make learning about the EFCA a priority now.

To get more information, you can log onto www.americanrightsatwork.org/employee-free-choice-act.