Michel Vanesse on Protected Concerted Activity

NLRB General Counsel Signals Rollback of Positions Affecting Unionized, Non-Unionized Employers

Once President Trump’s appointees gained a majority of National Labor Relations Board seats this summer, it was only a matter of time before the board began addressing the aggressive pro-employee positions taken by its...more

12/13/2017 / Employee Handbooks , NLRB , NLRB General Counsel , Presidential Appointments , Protected Concerted Activity , Purple Communications , Trump Administration , Unions

NLRB Upholds Rule Prohibiting Disclosure of Confidential Customer Information

Under federal labor law, employees involved in a labor dispute with their employer have the right to seek assistance from the company’s customers. On August 14, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rejected a claim from...more

9/1/2017 / Corporate Counsel , Customer Information , Macy's , NLRB , Protected Concerted Activity , Unfair Labor Practices

Google and Charlottesville Events Raise Questions for Companies Regarding Employee Political Views

Two recent major news stories again involve the intersection of politics with employment law. In the first matter, Google fired a programmer after he posted an internal document criticizing the company’s diversity...more

8/23/2017 / Adverse Employment Action , Diversity , Employer Liability Issues , Employment Policies , Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) , First Amendment , Free Speech , Google , Hate Speech , Hiring & Firing , NLRA , NLRB , Political Expression , Protected Concerted Activity , Race Discrimination , Retaliation

NLRB Affirms Employer's Right to Terminate Employees Who Disparaged Company's Food Safety Practices

Over the past several years, we have reported on a seemingly never-ending series of National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decisions proclaiming a variety of abusive employee practices as protected behavior under federal labor...more

7/21/2017 / Appeals , Disparagement , Franchises , Hiring & Firing , Jimmy John's , NLRB , Protected Concerted Activity , Reversal , Union Elections

Second Circuit Upholds NLRB Ban on No Recording Policy

Last year, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) surprised many employers when it declared illegal Whole Foods’ policy that prohibits employees from video or audio recording in the workplace. The Board concluded that the...more

6/19/2017 / Audio Recording , Employment Policies , NLRA , NLRB , Protected Concerted Activity , Section 7 , Video Recordings , Whole Foods , Workplace Communication

New NLRB Chair's Dissent May Point to Future Board Position on Challenges to Employee Handbook Policies

Over the past several years, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has repeatedly found that standard employee handbook provisions violate employees’ rights under Section 7 of the NLRA. These cases conclude that a variety...more

3/16/2017 / Conflicts of Interest , Corporate Counsel , Employee Handbooks , Identity Theft , NLRB , Protected Concerted Activity , Section 7 , Verizon

NLRB Says Social Media Policy Cannot Prohibit Employees from Posting Pictures of Company Uniforms

At least for now, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) continues its assault on employer social media policies. In a recent Board decision, G4S Secure Solutions (USA), Inc., the majority declared a variety of policies...more

12/14/2016 / Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) , NLRB , Photographs , Popular , Privacy Concerns , Protected Concerted Activity , Section 7 , Social Media Policy , Video Recordings

Federal ALJ Says NLRA Also Protects Employee Social Media Use from Union Interference

Employers are well aware of the National Labor Relations Board’s increasingly aggressive prosecution of employers accused of violating employee rights by attempting to restrict their social media interactions. Earlier this...more

9/27/2016 / NLRB , Protected Concerted Activity , Section 7 , Social Media Policy , Unfair Labor Practices , Unions

NLRB Says Employees Spreading Inaccurate Information is Protected Conduct

Yet another chapter in the National Labor Relations Board’s assault on employer social media policies. Earlier this month, the Board rejected Chipotle’s policy that prohibited employees from “posting incomplete, confidential,...more

8/31/2016 / Chipotle Grill , Disparate Impact , NLRB , Protected Concerted Activity , Section 7 , Social Media Policy

NLRB Says General Conflict of Interest Policies Violate Federal Labor Law

Another week, another National Labor Relations Board decision concluding that a standard employee handbook policy violates employees’ rights to engage in protected concerted activity under Section 7 of the NLRA. This time,...more

8/23/2016 / Conflicts of Interest , Corporate Counsel , Employee Handbooks , NLRA , NLRB , Protected Concerted Activity , Section 7

D.C. Circuit Upholds NLRB Position on Illegal Handbook Policies

Over the past several years, the National Labor Relations Board has repeatedly declared standard employee handbook policies illegal because it considered them to violate employees’ rights to engage in protected concerted...more

8/16/2016 / Confidentiality Agreements , Corporate Counsel , Employee Handbooks , NLRA , NLRB , Non-Disparagement Provisions , Protected Concerted Activity , Quicken Loans , Section 7

NLRB Again Rejects Employer Code of Conduct Provisions Requiring Positive Coworker Relations

Last month, the National Labor Relations Board continued its rejection of employer conduct policies intended to promote harmonious and productive working relationships among employees. In T-Mobile USA, Inc., unionized...more

6/1/2016 / Code of Conduct , NLRA , NLRB , Protected Concerted Activity , Section 7 , T-Mobile , Unfair Labor Practices , Unions , Working Conditions

NLRB Rejects General Employee Behavior Standards in Code of Conduct

The National Labor Relations Board continues its assault on employer handbooks and other policies it considers to impede employees’ rights to engage in protected concerted activity under Section 7 of the NLRA. Last month, the...more

5/4/2016 / Code of Conduct , Employee Handbooks , Hospitals , NLRA , NLRB , Nurses , Patient Safety , Protected Concerted Activity , Section 7 , Termination , Workplace Bullying

Social Media Policy Cannot Prevent Employee from Negative Responses to Customer Tweets

The National Labor Relations Board continues to interpret Section 7 of the NLRA to prevent employers from adopting social media policies that restrict employees’ ability to publically complain about their terms and conditions...more

4/12/2016 / Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) , Chipotle Grill , NLRA , NLRB , Popular , Protected Concerted Activity , Section 7 , Social Media Policy , Termination

NLRB Again Says Employers Cannot Impose Blanket Ban on Employee Recording in Workplace

Like many employers, Whole Foods adopted a policy prohibiting employees from conducting unauthorized recording of conversations, phone calls or meetings, regardless of the recording technology used. Employers generally...more

1/20/2016 / Audio Recording , NLRB , Protected Concerted Activity , Unfair Labor Practices , Video Recordings , Whole Foods

New NC "Ag-Gag" Law Might Conflict with NLRB View of Concerted Activity Rights

North Carolina’s controversial new “Ag-Gag” Law took effect January 1. The bill was passed at the behest of state pork and poultry interests concerned over animal rights activists using employment as a cover to film...more

1/11/2016 / Agribusiness , Audio Recording , Duty of Loyalty , Farm Animals , Governor McCrory , NC Supreme Court , NLRB , Protected Concerted Activity , Video Recordings

D.C. Circuit Upholds NLRB Ban on Various Employee Handbook Policies

As exhaustively reported in EmployNews over the past several years, the National Labor Relations Board has been attacking numerous employee handbook provisions considered for years by employers to constitute standard...more

11/16/2015 / Employee Handbooks , NLRB , Pay Transparency , Protected Concerted Activity , Section 7

Seventh Circuit Backs Employer on Running of FMLA Statute of Limitations

Family and Medical Leave Act contains a two-year statute of limitations for claims of interference with or retaliation against protected employee activity. Last month, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals faced questions over...more

11/9/2015 / Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) , Protected Concerted Activity , Retaliation , Statute of Limitations

Second Circuit Affirms NLRB View That Facebook "Likes" Are Protected Concerted Activity

Last week, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals backed the National Labor Relations Board’s position that employee social media postings are protected concerted activity under federal law, even if they use obscenities that...more

11/2/2015 / Appeals , Employer Liability Issues , Facebook , NLRB , Offensive Language , Protected Concerted Activity , Section 7 , Social Media , Social Media Policy

NLRB Case Explains Agency's Position on Confidential Information Policies

Many, if not most employers maintain policies regarding disclosure by employees of confidential business information. Sometimes these policies appear in employee handbooks, and sometimes employees are required to sign...more

10/19/2015 / Caesars , Casinos , Confidential Information , Confidentiality Agreements , Employee Handbooks , Employment Policies , NLRB , Protected Concerted Activity , Unions

NLRB Says Employee Protest of Government Action is Protected Concerted Activity

Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act protects employees’ rights to engage in “concerted activity.” Concerted activity means persons acting on behalf of two or more employees with regard to issues involving terms and...more

10/12/2015 / Corporate Counsel , NLRA , NLRB , Popular , Protected Concerted Activity , Section 7 , Taxi Cabs

NLRB Says Filing Class Action Lawsuit is Protected Concerted Activity

Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act prohibits employers from discriminating or retaliating against employees who engage in protected concerted activity. Concerted Activity means actions involving terms and...more

8/17/2015 / Class Action , Collective Actions , Discrimination , Employer Liability Issues , Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) , NLRA , NLRB , Protected Concerted Activity , Restaurant Industry , Retaliation , Section 7 , Tipped Employees

NLRB Says Employers Cannot Ask Employees Not to Discuss Internal Investigation

When conducting an internal investigation involving possible disciplinary violations, employers often ask participants in the investigation to maintain its confidentiality pending completion. Last month, the National Labor...more

7/20/2015 / Adverse Employment Action , Confidential Employer Investigations , Internal Investigations , NLRA , NLRB , Popular , Protected Concerted Activity , Section 7

NLRB Says Employer Cannot Rescind Contract for Employee Who Wrote Complaining Email to Co-Workers

As previously reported in EmployNews, recent National Labor Relations Board decisions have disrupted established guidelines with regard to employers’ obligations to tolerate uncivil and insulting behavior and comments from...more

6/26/2015 / Employment Contract , Hiring & Firing , NLRA , NLRB , Protected Concerted Activity , Section 7 , Teachers , Termination , Wrongful Termination

NLRB General Counsel Releases Memo on Employee Handbook Conflicts With Employee Concerted Activity Rights

Over the past several years, EmployNews has reported dozens of cases involving challenges by the National Labor Relations Board’s Office of the General Counsel to what appeared to be standard employee handbook provisions. In...more

4/7/2015 / Confidentiality Agreements , NLRA , NLRB , Protected Concerted Activity , Section 7 , Social Media Policy

Michel Vanesse

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

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