Labor Law Alert
April 19, 2001
DOL Issues Notice Requiring Federal Contractors to Post Notice of Employee Rights
On February 17, 2001, President Bush issued Executive Order 13201, which requires federal contractors and subcontractors to post notices to employees of their rights concerning mandatory union membership and payment of Union dues or fees. On April 18, 2001, the effective date of the Order, the Employment Standards Administration of the Department of Labor issued an interim notice setting forth the obligations of employers under the Order.
Employers who enter into a federal contract or subcontract (other than government purchases of less than $100,000) on or after April 18, 2001, are required to post the following notice in conspicuous places in their plants and offices, including all places where notices to employees are customarily posted:
Notice to Employees:
Under Federal law, employees cannot be required to join a union or maintain membership in a union in order to retain their jobs. Under certain conditions, the law permits a union and an employer to enter into a union-security agreement requiring employees to pay uniform periodic dues and initiation fees. However, employees who are not union members can object to the use of their payments for certain purposes and can only be required to pay their share of union costs relating to collective bargaining, contract administration, or grievance adjustment.
If you do not want to pay that portion of dues or fees used to support activities not related to collective bargaining, contract administration, or grievance adjustment, you are entitled to an appropriate reduction in your payment. If you believe that you have been required to pay dues or fees used in part to support activities not related to collective bargaining, contract administration, or grievance adjustment, you may be entitled to a refund and to an appropriate reduction in future payments.
For further information concerning your rights, you may wish to contact the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) either at one of its Regional offices or at the following address:
National Labor Relations Board
Division of Information
1099 14th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20570
To locate the nearest NLRB office, see NLRB's Web site at www.nlrb.gov*
* Note that the last sentence of the Notice shall be omitted in notices posted in the plants or offices of carriers subject to the Railway Labor Act.
The Order also requires federal contractors and subcontractors to include a clause in federal contract-connected subcontracts and purchase orders requiring subcontractors and vendors to post the same notice.
While the Order allows the Secretary of Labor to exempt employers who are not subject to Union contracts and employers in right-to-work states from the posting requirements, the Secretary has not yet done so and the Order, as written, applies to
all employers, whether unionized or not.
For more information or assistance, please contact one of the following partners in our Labor and Employment Group:
These materials should not be considered as, or as a substitute for, legal advice and they are not intended to nor do they create an attorney-client relationship. Because the materials included here are general, they may not apply to your individual legal or factual circumstances. You should not take (or refrain from taking) any action based on the information you obtain from these materials without first obtaining professional counsel and you should not send us confidential information without first speaking to one of our attorneys and receiving explicit authorization to do so.
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