NLRB General Counsel Issues Updated Representation Case Guidance

Today, NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued updated guidance on representation cases, including an updated version of the Office of the General Counsel’s Outline of Law and Procedure in Representation Cases (“Outline”), the Casehandling Manual Part Two on Representation Proceedings, and an Operations-Management Memorandum.   

The Outline is a guidance document detailing developments in Board election and representation law and serves as a research tool.  Originally issued in the early 1960s, the last major revision to the Outline was in 2017, and the NLRB has issued updated supplements for each subsequent year. The 2025 revision includes developments related to: jurisdiction, unit clarification petitions, and unit-determination and community-of-interest principles, among others. The Outline also reflects recent rulemaking by the Board. The 2025 Outline was edited by Terence G. Schoone-Jongen, Director of the Board’s Office of Representation Appeals. The Outline and other resources can be found under “Manuals and Guides” on the NLRB’s website.

General Counsel Abruzzo also issued an OM Memorandum to all Field Offices related to updating the Casehandling Manual Part Two and summarizing Agency procedures regarding mail ballot elections. The memo also clarifies processes regarding RM petitions, and incorporates the changes resulting from the Board’s Fair Choice-Employee Voice Rule.

“I have no doubt that the Outline will prove to be an invaluable resource for labor law practitioners, workers and their representatives, employers, academics/legal researchers and other members of the public,” said General Counsel Abruzzo. “Overall, these resources will assist greatly in effectuating our important mission of protecting workers’ rights to engage together and collectively bargain through representatives of their free choosing.”