This Guide has been prepared by the Office of the General Counsel to provide guidance to hearing officers in conducting hearings in NLRB representation proceedings and Section 10(k) hearings. The Guide emphasizes techniques of conducting the hearing and developing a complete record. It is designed only to provide procedural and operational guidance to the Agency's staff and is not intended to be a compendium of substantive or procedural law, nor a substitute for knowledge of the law. Similarly, the Guide does not constitute rulings or directives of the Board or the General Counsel, and is not a form of authority binding on either the Board or General Counsel. As to matters on which the Board has issued rulings, the Guide seeks to accurately describe and interpret Board law; while the Guide can thus be regarded as reflecting Board policies as of the date of its preparation, in the event of conflict, it is the Board's decisional law, not the Guide, that is controlling. Similarly, while the Guide reflects casehandling policies of the General Counsel as of the date of its preparation, such policies may be revised or amended from time-to-time. Although it is expected that the Agency's Regional Directors and their staffs will follow these guidelines in the handling of cases, it is also expected that in their exercise of professional judgment and discretion, there will be situations in which they will adapt these guidelines to circumstances.