The Department of Labor (DOL) announced that it was rescinding the Obama Administration’s “persuader” rule, also known as the “employer gag rule.”
The rule went into effect in July 2016 and would have changed federal disclosure rules to make it more difficult for employers to access legal counsel or other expert advice on labor and employee relations issues.
The rule was blocked by a federal court in November 2016.
The rule would have essentially prevented employers from communicating with their employees during a union election campaign. For over 50 years, DOL did not require employers to file reports about consultants or attorneys that only provide “advice” (providing materials, drafting speeches, and assisting to comply with the law) to the employer in communicating with their employees about collective bargaining issues, as long as the consultant did not directly interact with the employees.
The rule sought to reverse that policy and require that employers and consultants report details of any agreements, information about the employees affected, and all related financial data. It would also severely penalize employers, consultants, and attorneys who inadvertently fail to report activities and agreements that DOL had considered merely “advice” for nearly five decades.
Certain violations would have resulted in criminal sanctions. DOL’s rule would be to discourage employers, particularly smaller employers, from seeking legal counsel and assistance to comply with federal labor laws during a union campaign.
As noted in Week in Review previously, two bills introduced this Congress would codify the persuader rule (and other parts of the previously-rejected “Card Check ”legislation) — the Workforce Democracy Act and the Workers’ Freedom to Negotiate Act. SAF is actively lobbying against these proposals.
