In a recent SHRM article titled When Employees Want Out: A Union Decertification Primer, Michael VanDervort explains why employee-driven efforts to remove union representation are legally sensitive, often misunderstood, and increasingly relevant for HR and labor relations teams.
Decertification: Tips For Employers
Employers will want to take note of these highlights:
- Decertification is often used as a catch-all term, but there are three legally distinct paths: employee-filed decertification elections, deauthorization elections, and employer withdrawal of recognition or employer-filed petitions.
- A decertification election is employee-driven and requires at least 30% employee support before the NLRB will conduct a secret-ballot election.
- A deauthorization election does not remove the union. It only removes the union’s ability to require membership or dues obligations under a union-security clause.
- Employer withdrawal of recognition is the highest-risk path and should not be attempted without labor counsel and a solid legal basis.
- Newly organized bargaining units may see decertification pressure when the gap between campaign promises and bargaining reality becomes clear to employees.
- HR should not suggest, draft, circulate, or collect a decertification petition, ask who signed, or promise improvements tied to petition activity.
- Front-line supervisors need clear guidance because one careless question or comment can turn an employee-led process into an unfair labor practice issue.
- HR should call counsel early when a petition is mentioned, a union charge is threatened, recognition withdrawal is discussed, or a manager may have already crossed a legal line.
Read the full article on SHRM: (membership may be required) When Employees Want Out: A Union Decertification Primer
