National Labor Relations Board Division of Judges

This BENCH BOOK has been compiled to provide the National Labor Relations Board's administrative law judges with a reference guide during trials when other resources are unavailable. It does not deal with issues that may arise during decision writing. It represents an effort to set forth Board precedent and other rulings and authorities on certain recurring procedural issues that may arise during the course of an NLRB trial. It is not a digest of substantive law. Nor should it be cited as precedent, or be considered a substitute for issue specific research. The basic sources that govern Board trials are the National Labor Relations Act (the Act), the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), the Board's Rules and Regulations (Board's Rules), Statements of Procedure, Board decisions, and the Federal Rules of Evidence (FRE) applicable in U.S. district courts, so far as practicable. The Bench Book sometimes refers to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP). It also refers to unpublished Board orders, unappealed administrative law judges' decisions, and other Board documents that are not binding precedent, but are included because they provide useful guidance. * Useful information is also available in the NLRB's Classification Outline and Index (also known as CITENET, the Board's website search database of Board cases) particularly in Chapter 596 "Procedure in ULP Proceedings," in Chapter 737 "Evidence," and in Chapter 700 "General Legal Principles."