In This Issue:

1. Facebook Posts by Employees Critical of Employer May Be Protected Activity Under NLRA

2. “New” Board Finds That Employer Violated NLRA by Disciplining Employee for Sending Union-Related Emails Through Company’s Email System

3. Discussion of Wage Dispute in TV Interview Found to Be Protected Activity

4. The Workplace Is Still for Working: Employers May Promulgate and Enforce Rules Limiting Personal Use of Social Media During Working Time

5. EEOC Cautions Employers on Using Social Media in Hiring Decisions

Excerpt from Discussion of Wage Dispute in TV Interview Found to Be Protected Activity

Surveys now reflect the tremendous increase in the use of social media to perform pre-hire background checks on employees. A survey cited in The New York Times reported that 75 percent of recruiters research candidates online, and 70 percent of recruiters report that they have rejected candidates on the basis of online information. BNA reports that, at an EEOC training workshop, Edward Loughlin, a trial attorney with the EEOC’s Washington, D.C., Field Office, noted that employers can access through social media a great deal of information that they could not access before and that social media might reveal information showing membership in protected classes. He cautioned that, in reviewing adverse actions in an employment claim, the EEOC will apply the same rules that are applied under traditional Title VII analysis, whether the information was obtained through social media or more traditional means....