NLRB Election Procedures - Voluntary Recognition and Accretion

Voluntary Recognition and Accretion

It is lawful for an employer to recognize a union, without going through an NLRB-conducted election, so long as the union has proof of support from more than half of the employees in the bargaining unit. That proof may not be valid, however, if the employer has given unlawful assistance to the union in collecting those cards or if another union has filed a petition seeking to represent these employees before the employer grants recognition.

In addition, new employees may be added to an existing unit without the need for either an election or proof of majority support if they share such an overwhelming community of interest with the employees in the existing unit that they could not be represented separately. As an example, a new department in a factory in which a union represents all of the production and maintenance employees in a “wall to wall” unit is likely to be accreted to that unit. The NLRB will not accrete employees to an existing unit, however, if they have been historically excluded from the unit, no matter how strong the community of interest might be; in that case the union must obtain proof of majority support to add them to the unit.