At its December 11 meeting, the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB) approved regulations implementing “card check” legislation approved by the California Legislature in 2022. The regulations will now be reviewed by the Office of Administrative Law (OAL), for final approval; OAL has 30 working days to complete its review and approval, which is normally routine.

The regulatory changes fill in some gaps in the card check law, addressing some concerns of agricultural employer advocates and leaving some other concerns unaddressed:

• Documents submitted by a union seeking to represent agricultural employees through the card check process must clearly indicate that signing that document constitutes a de-facto vote for unionization.
• Employers must respond within 48 hours by providing a list of current employees. While the time period has been clarified to exclude weekends and holidays, information submitted by employers must include employee contact information including cell phone numbers and email addresses; it’s unclear what recourse an employer may have if he does not have either of those two pieces of information.

Agricultural employers covered by the card check law will be well advised to carefully follow timeframes prescribed in the regulations and underlying law. Obtaining legal counsel will also be advisable; FELS Newsletter subscribers are eligible for Group Legal Services Plan benefits through FELS; you can learn more here.