The National Labor Relations Board strongly encourages parties or other persons
to use the Agency's E-Filing Program to file selected documents in unfair labor
practice and representation cases with the Board’s Office of Executive Secretary,
the Division of Judges, the General Counsel’s Office of Appeals, and Regional, Subregional
and Resident Offices.
Most documents that may be filed under the Board's Rules with the above-listed offices
may be filed electronically.
E-FILINGS SHOULD NOT CONTAIN “SENSITIVE PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION” (SPII) THAT IS NOT ESSENTIAL TO THE MATTER AT ISSUE
Please redact (remove) any non-essential personally identifiable information before
uploading an E- Filing. If you believe you must file documents with the Agency that
contain unredacted sensitive personally identifiable information, you must indicate
during the E-filing process the type of SPII contained in the document.
SPII is an individual's name
in combination with one or more of the following:
- Date of birth
- Social Security number
- Driver's license number
- Financial account number
- Credit or debit card number
E-FILINGS CONTAINING INFORMATION COVERED BY A PROTECTIVE ORDER OR “UNDER SEAL” MUST BE DESIGNATED
If you are uploading an E-Filing that contains information (such as documents, testimony or other information) that may not be released to the public because the information is covered by a protective order, or has been placed “under seal,” then you must indicate during the E-Filing process that the document you are uploading “Contains Information Covered by a Protective Order or Placed Under Seal.”
E-FILINGS MUST BE TIMELY
The Agency will accept electronic filings up to
11:59 pm in the local time zone of the receiving office on the due date. Filings
accomplished by any other means must comply with the requirements of Section 102.111
of the Board's Rules and Regulations.
- A document will be considered timely filed if the E-Filing receipt reflects that
the entire document was received by the Agency’s E-Filing system before midnight
local time on the due date. (Midnight is considered the beginning of a new day.)
- Parties are reminded that filings accomplished by any other means, e.g. mail, personal
delivery or facsimile (if allowed), must be received by the
close of business in the receiving office on the due date.
-
Unlike the Federal Courts, the Agency does
not add 3 days to any due date regardless of the manner the document to which the
filer is responding was served.
- Although the Agency’s E-Filing system is designed to receive filings 24 hours per
day, parties are strongly encouraged to file documents in advance of the filing
deadline and during the normal business hours of the receiving office, in the event
problems are encountered and alternate means of filing become necessary.
- The receiving office’s staff will respond to non-technical questions regarding the
E-Filing system during normal business hours. For technical problems, please refer
to the E-Filing FAQ or send an email to
e-filing@nlrb.gov If you wait until after
the close of business to attempt to E-File and encounter problems, no one will be
available to assist you.
- Technical Failure. If the Agency's E-Filing system is unable to receive documents
for a continuous period of more than 2 hours after 12 noon (Eastern Time), the Agency
will declare the site to be in technical failure. The Agency will post notice of
the technical failure determination on the website as soon as possible. The Agency
will also post notice regarding scheduled service, system maintenance or upgrades,
or other events that will make the system unavailable to receive filings. If a party
is prevented from E-Filing a document on its due date because of an Agency-determined
technical failure, the document must be filed by 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) on the
next business day.
- User Problems. Problems with a user's telephone lines, internet service provider,
hardware, or software; user problems in understanding or following the E-Filing
instructions; or rejection of a document because it contains a virus do not constitute
a technical failure and will not excuse an untimely filing. A filer who cannot E-File
a document because of any of these user problems must file conventionally and timely.
The Agency’s offices have no lobby facilities for filing after the close of business.
Thus, a user who waits until after close of business on the due date to attempt
to E-File does so at his/her own peril. If you are unsure whether the problem is
a technical failure or a user problem, assume it is a user problem.
ELECTRONIC FILING IS A THREE-STEP PROCESS
You have not competed the E-Filing process until you have (1) entered your data
and uploaded your document(s); (2) reviewed and confirmed your submission; and (3)
received your receipt with confirmation number. Confirmation emails will be sent from
GovDelivery so you may need to check your Spam folder and designate GovDelivery.com and
e-Service@nlrb.gov as approved senders. Agency documents sent to the email address provided
that are rejected by the recipient’s spam filter will be regarded as having been delivered.
PREFERRED DOCUMENT FORMAT IS PDF
The preferred format for submitting documents
by E-Filing is Adobe's Portable Document Format (*.pdf). However, in order to make
the Agency's E-Filing system more widely available to the public, persons who do
not have the ability to submit documents in PDF format may submit documents in Microsoft
Word format (*.doc, *.docx) or Microsoft Excel format (*.xls, *.xlsx). Persons who do not have the ability to submit documents
in either PDF or Microsoft Word format may submit documents in simple text format
(*.txt or *.csv). Regardless of the format, all documents E-Filed with the Agency must be
submitted in a “read-only” state.
MAXIMUM SIZE OF FILES FOR UPLOAD
Document has to be less than twenty megabytes (20 MB).
FILING OF ANSWER TO A COMPLAINT OR COMPLIANCE SPECIFICATION
For any Answer
to a Complaint or Compliance Specification, the document being filed electronically
should be in a PDF format, as described above, that includes the signature of counsel
or non-attorney representative for represented parties or the signature of the party
if not represented. However, if the electronic version of an Answer to a Complaint
or a Compliance Specification is not in a PDF format that includes the required
signature, then the original answer containing the required signature must be submitted
to the Regional, Subregional or Resident Office by traditional means within three
(3) business days after the date of electronic filing. Please note that answers
to complaints and compliance specifications are filed only with the Regional, Subregional,
or Resident Offices.
DOCUMENTS MUST BE VIRUS-FREE
You are responsible for taking all reasonable
steps to prevent sending any material to the Agency that contains computer viruses.
All submissions using this E-Filing Form will be scanned for viruses. Any submission
that contains a virus will automatically be deleted by the Agency's computer system
and thus will not be processed. Rejection of a filing because it contains a virus
will not excuse a late filing and is considered to be a user problem, not a technical
failure as defined herein.
FILING ADDITIONAL COPIES IS NOT REQUIRED
You are not required to file multiple
copies of documents that you file electronically.
DOCUMENTS MUST BE COMPLETE
Any document submitted electronically to the Agency
must be complete. Any attachments must be converted into electronic form and included
as part of the document. No attachments may be filed (either electronically or by
service of hardcopy) separately from the electronic document under any circumstances.
Exception: Position statements or documentary evidence submitted to a Regional Office
during an unfair labor practice investigation or documents relating to appeals pending
before the Office of Appeals may be filed as separate attachments.
CERTAIN DOCUMENTS MUST INCLUDE STATEMENT OF SERVICE
All documents submitted
to the Agency electronically, which under the Board's Rules and Regulations must
be served on other parties to the case, must include a statement of service showing
how that document was served on other parties in accordance with the service requirements
of Section 102.114(i) of the Board's Rules and Regulations. This rule provides:
"In the event the document being filed electronically is required to be served on
another party to a proceeding, the other party shall be served by electronic mail
(email), if possible. If the other party does not have the ability to receive electronic
service, the other party shall be notified by telephone of the substance of the
transmitted document and a copy of the document shall be served by personal service
no later than the next day, by overnight delivery service, or, with the permission
of the party receiving the document, by facsimile transmission."
OFFICIAL BUSINESS
Outside parties may send to the Agency only electronic communications dealing with
official Agency business. Unauthorized attempts to use the NLRB’s E-Filing system
are strictly prohibited and may be punishable under the Computer Fraud and Abuse
Act of 1986 and the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act. We take
precautions to maintain the security, confidentiality, and integrity of the information
we collect at this site. Such measures include access controls designed to limit
access to the information to the extent necessary to accomplish our mission. We
also employ various security technologies to protect the information stored on our
systems.