Final Rule Says Employers Must Disclose if Messages to Employees Come from a Third Party

​Employers must disclose whether an outside expert scripted or drafted what a manager or supervisor says to workers in a direct or indirect effort to  affect employees' decisions regarding their representation or collective bargaining rights, says a final rule from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), which goes into effect on April 25, 2016. The Persuader Final Rule realigns the department's regulations with the text of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959. The final rule requires employers and the consultants they hire to file reports even for "indirect persuader activities," such as when a consultant writes scripted talking points for management or drafts a letter from a supervisor during union negotiations.