Washington, DC – The National Labor Relations Board Division of Judges announced today that it will resume holding hearings on unfair labor practice complaints effective June 1, 2020. The Division of Judges had previously postponed hearings scheduled for May in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and related federal, state, and local guidance and orders. However, the Agency has since taken the necessary steps to acquire the licenses and equipment needed to conduct such hearings remotely using online videoconferencing technology.
Accordingly, effective June 1, the Division of Judges will not sua sponte postpone scheduled hearings due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rather, prehearing requests for postponement will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the Deputy Chief Administrative Law Judge in Washington, D.C. and Associate Chief ALJs in New York and San Francisco under Sec. 102.24 of the Board’s Rules, subject to the right of the parties to request special permission from the Board to appeal the ruling under Sec. 102.26. Motions or objections with respect to holding an in-person versus an online videoconference hearing, or taking particular witness testimony by videoconference, will be considered and ruled on by the designated trial judge pursuant to Sec. 102.35(a)(6) and (8) of the Board’s Rules, likewise subject to the parties’ special appeal rights under Sec. 102.26.
Established in 1935, the National Labor Relations Board is an independent federal agency that protects employees and employers, and unions from unfair labor practices and protects the right of private sector employees to join together, with or without a union, to improve wages, benefits and working conditions. The NLRB conducts hundreds of workplace elections and investigates thousands of unfair labor practice charges each year.