January 2011 - National Labor Relations Board

INTRODUCTIONThe General Counsel’s Office is pleased to announce this revised edition of theNational Labor Relations Board Casehandling Manual for Unfair Labor PracticeProceedings. This edition incorporates straightforward language to clarify instructionconcerning ULP case processing and expands the scope of guidance in many areas. Inaddition, several new sections address existing casehandling procedures that previouslyhad not been incorporated into the Manual. Finally, existing sections of the Manual havebeen updated to reflect current case law and General Counsel policies.We anticipate that the guidelines set forth in this revision will enhance the qualityof unfair labor practice casehandling. Also, practitioners now have the very bestguidance available to help their clients comply with their obligations under the Act andresolve disputes with finality.Publishing the revised Unfair Labor Practice Manual symbolizes our commitmentto enhancing the resources available to employees of the Office of the General Counseland the Bar and to conducting our proceedings in an open, transparent manner. Webelieve that you will find it to be of great assistance. Future revisions will be madeelectronically and posted on the Agency’s website so that the Manual will always be upto date.This Manual reflects the work of many Agency professionals, both in the Fieldand Headquarters. While it is not possible to recognize each contributor here, specialmention should be made of the members of the committee who had overall responsibilityfor the project: Richard Ahearn, Regional Director, Region 19; Donald Gardiner,Assistant to the Regional Director, Region 14; Garey Lindsay, Regional Attorney, Region9; Rik Lineback, Regional Director, Region 25; and Nelson Levin, Deputy AssociateGeneral Counsel, Division of Operations-Management. On behalf of the Agency, I wantto thank each of them and all of those who played a role in developing and revising thisManual.Lafe SolomonActing General CounselDecember 2011