New Rule: Use Of Anti-Union Consultants Must Be Disclosed

A final rule requiring employers to disclose their retention of anti-union consultants, along with the fees paid to retain them, will take effect on July 1. The use of anti-union consultants already needs to be disclosed per a 1959 law, but according to Labor Secretary Thomas Perez that requirement includes what amounts to a huge loophole by applying only where the consultant is in direct contact with workers. What often happens now, according to Perez, is the consultant instead just scripts what managers and supervisors will say. The range of consultant activities covered in the new rule is extensive, and includes such things as creating materials for distribution to employees and conducting seminars for management on how to discourage unionization. In this New York Times feature, a seasoned employment attorney and former NLRB member butts heads with Secretary Perez on a key question: whether the new rule will “chill the seeking of legal advice.”

Companies will soon need to disclose anti-union consultant relationships – and how much they are paying the consultants.