Today, during a status conference in the U.S. District Court for D.C., the NLRB announced it will voluntarily delay implementation of the posting requirement rule until January 31, 2012. The rule was slated to go into effect on November 14, 2011.

The decision to delay was made in response to the suit filed by the NAM against the NLRB. In addition, the Court set a date for a hearing on summary judgment motions for December 19th with a decision to be rendered by the Court before the new effective date of January 31, 2012.

On September 8th, the NAM was the first to file suit against the NLRB arguing that requiring all employers to post a unionization notice is outside the Boards authority under the National Labor Relations Act and is in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. The NAM will continue to lead efforts to rein in a Board that seems to have little regard for the constraints on its authority under the law or long-established precedent.

Joe Trauger is vice president for human resources policy, National Association of Manufacturers.