NLRB Broadens Employers' Ability To Ban Union Communications Using Corporate E-Mail
In a highly anticipated decision, the National Labor Relations Board has emphatically landed on the side of employers whose policies bar employees from using corporate e-mail resources for union activities.
In The Guard Publishing Co. d/b/a The Register Guard, the Board, in a 3-2 decision, held that “employees have no statutory right to use an employer’s equipment or media for Section 7 communications.” Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act encompasses communications about virtually all union activities by employees, including solicitation, organizing, grievances, picketing, strikes, and discussions about the terms and conditions of employment. In light of this ruling, an employer may, in the words of the Board, “lawfully bar employees’ nonwork-related use of its e-mail systems,” including use for union activities.
There is a caveat, but as defined by the Board, the caveat is a narrow one: Employers can not act “in a manner that discriminates against Section 7 activity.” (emphasis supplied). Significantly, the Guard Publishing decision substantially narrows the prior definition of “discrimination” for purposes of analyzing whether an e-mail policy (or any other policy restricting Section 7 activities) on its face, or as enforced by the employer, interferes with Section 7 rights. Continue Reading...
