The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia sided with the NLRB on 3 common employer policies. These rules violate the NLRA on their face:

• The “investigative confidentiality rule.” The company had a rule that “prohibited employees from revealing information about matters under investigation.” This was overly broad. Sure, EEO investigations should be kept confidential – the EEOC says so. But that doesn’t mean that absolutely every investigation should be confidential.
• The “electronic communications rule.” The company policy said: “employees should only disclose information or messages from (the company’s electronic communications systems) to authorized persons.” This violated the NLRA because a reasonable person might not know this rule applied only to confidential information in an email.
• The “working hours rule.” The company’s policy said it might discipline employees for “performing activities other than Company work during working hours.” Did you spot the error? Yep, the policy said “working hours” when it should have said “working time.” “Hours” include breaks.

On the other hand, the company’s “complaint provision” did NOT violate the NLRA. The policy directed employees to voice complaints to an immediate superior or to HR and went on to say “complaining to your fellow employees will not resolve problems. Constructive complaints communicated through the appropriate channels may help improve the workplace for all.” This language did not forbid communications among employees; it only exhorted employees not to communicate.

Time to re-edit those policies. Hynudai America Shipping Agency, Inc. v. NLRB, No. 11-1351 (D.C. Cir. November 6, 2015)