Employers Cannot Ban Email Solicitation Based on Safety Concerns during Non-Working Time

In a much-discussed decision, the Board decided that employees with access to an email system for work purposes have a right to use that email system on non-work time for communications protected by the National Labor Relations Act. [See our prior summary of the decision in Purple Communications in “NLRB to Companies: Your Workers Can…
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Employees Gain Access to Company Email Systems for Union Activity through Recent NLRB Ruling

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently ruled that union and non-union employees who have work-related access to a company email system are generally permitted to use that email system for union activity. But, this use is not absolute. A company can limit email use to maintain production or discipline. This new ruling came about…
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NLRB to Companies: Your Workers Can Use Your Email System for Union Organizing

Employees who have access to an employer’s email system as part of their job may now, during non-working time, use the email system to communicate about wages, hours, working conditions, and union organizing issues notwithstanding corporate policies restricting email to business purposes only. Most businesses view this as an unprecedented taking of their private property.…
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Employees Now Allowed to Use Company-Provided Email Systems for Union Organizing

The National Labor Relations Board, by a 3-2 vote, just reversed legal precedent to declare that workers have a right to use their employers’ email systems for non-business purposes, including union organizing. The Board specifically stated, “We decide today that employee use of email for statutorily protected communications on nonworking time must presumptively be permitted…
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Companies About to Lose Control of Email Systems to Union Organizers

Under current law established in 2007, an employer can restrict the use of email and company computer systems so long as the employer does not improperly draw distinctions between employees’ personal activities and their NLRA-sanctioned activities because of their protected nature. But as we know, the membership of the Board is different now and this…
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Union Organizing Through Company Email Soon to be Reality

Under the National Labor Relations Act, employers may forbid employees from using company provided email and electronic communication systems for all non-business activities. Specifically, employees have no statutory right to use their Employer’s email system for Section 7 purposes, including union organizing activity. The NLRB’s General Counsel and the Communication Workers of America believe that…
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