In the past few years the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) has taken an increased interest in whether workplace policies prohibiting employees from discussing the terms and conditions of their employment on social media such as Facebook and Twitter violate the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) by interfering with workers’ rights to engage in concerted activity. Federal law prohibits an employer from interfering with employees who come together to discuss work-related issues for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection, and the NLRB has (correctly) noted that social media has become one of the primary avenues through which employees engage in such activity. A spate of recent decisions makes clear that the NLRB has intensified (and will likely continue to intensify) its scrutiny of employer social media policies and this scrutiny extends no less to non-unionized employers.
Our colleagues at the Mintz Levin Employment Matters blog have written a thorough analysis of the latest, and you will want to read it and take another hard look at your company’s social media policies.
