Articles and Blogs

Employers may run into trouble with employees and the NLRB for interfering with protected activity if social media posts are restricted. On the other hand, employers could be liable to customers if they permit employees to post hostile statements and information. This quandary was highlighted by the holding in a recent federal court case. Was... READ MORE

By now private employers should be well aware that employees who openly criticize management and refuse to obey instructions will often be found to be engaging in lawful, protected activity by the NLRB. Another very recent decision by the NLRB brings home that point again – even where no union is involved. READ MORE

One day after issuing a controversial decision regarding employees’ rights to use an employer’s email system for union organizing (detailed in this blog), the NLRB has adopted its final rule significantly shortening the timeline for union elections in the private sector. We have blogged extensively on the development of this rule as can be... READ MORE

Rejecting and overruling its 2007 decision in Register Guard that limited employee rights to use employer email systems for union organizing, the NLRB, in a three to two decision, significantly broadened the scope of private employee rights to use an employer’s email system for union organizing purposes and other protected activity.  The decision focused on... READ MORE

When can a hospital bar access to the premises when employees are off duty?  According to the NLRB in a recent case, it will depend on the hospital’s rule, how it is written and how much discretion the hospital has in interpreting the meaning of “hospital-related business.” Cafeteria Operator in the Hospital The hospital... READ MORE

Although the NLRB has been very protective of employees’ rights to comment on Facebook, sometimes employees can go too far.  In this recent case, the legal line between protected activity and unprotected activity was crossed when two employees openly planned to be insubordinate. READ MORE

Protected Rights Expanded in Solidarity We have all become familiar with the protected rights of employees under the National Labor Relations Act. To be protected under Section 7 of the NLRA, employee conduct must be both “concerted” and engaged in for the purpose of “mutual aid or protection.” The question that the NLRB was... READ MORE

And so it continues. In an advice memo dated July 29, 2014, the General Counsel of the NLRB has given authorization to include a franchisor (McDonald’s) as a named party in unfair labor practice charges arising out of the treatment of franchisee employees. Some believe that this move is just part of the increasing... READ MORE

Unlawful Interference Private employees have the right to engage – or not to engage – in activities in support of a union or each other relating to wages, hours and working conditions.  It’s unlawful for private employers to “interfere” with those rights.  Spying on employees or even just creating the impression of surveillance has... READ MORE

The NLRB and President Obama both took a hit last week from the Supreme Court when the Justices ruled unanimously that the President’s appointment of three members of the NLRB during a recess of the Senate was unconstitutional.  We wrote about this legal challenge to presidential power previously as the case made its way... READ MORE