Next Tuesday, April 14, 2015, the new NLRB rules governing union election procedures within private companies takes effect and it behooves all business owners, franchise or not, to be fully aware of them and prepared for the possibility of unionizing efforts.  The so-called “ambush” or “quickie” election rules dramatically reduces the amount of time between a petition for a union election being filed and the date that election actually takes place.  Effective Tuesday, the time frame will drop as low as 8 days for a pre-election hearing from the time the petition is filed.  Further, the new rules mandate that employers provide union with personal contact and work information on their employees whether the employee wants it released or not.  There are a host of other egregious mandates contained in the new rules, all of which may negatively impact small employers.