Earlier this year, I reported that a federal judge in Texas had issued a preliminary nationwide injunction against the Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) new Persuader Rule. The DOL’s new rule was problematic because it would have essentially eliminated what is known as the “advice” exemption under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (“LMRDA”), which allows attorneys and consultants to assist employers with union matters where there is no direct contact between the attorney/consultant and the company’s employees, without having to report the nature of the consultation. Under the DOL’s new Persuader Rule, disclosure of such arrangements would have been required.
On November 16, 2016, the same judge converted the preliminary injunction into a permanent nationwide injunction.
At this point, we’ll just have to wait and see how the DOL responds (i.e. appeals). With the Trump administration taking office in less than two months, it will be interesting to see whether the DOL scales back on some of the initiatives it pushed for during the Obama administration.