Do Social Media Policies Violate NLRA Section 7 Rights?

http://ow.ly/6TMpT

Article by Jeffrey S. Klein and Nicholas J. Pappas from the New York Law Journal and posted on law.com on the LTN webpage.

The article touches on the use of social media policies in a corporate environment aimed at regulating the content that employees are allowed to share on social media networks.  The article specifically addresses the National Labor Relations Act Section 7, and discusses examples where social media policies may have violated employees rights under that Section.

The authors describe a specific challenge to one company's policy, "The policy at issue prohibited employees from "making disparaging, discriminatory or defamatory comments when discussing the Company or the employee's superiors, co-workers and/or competitors." The AMR employee handbook likewise prohibited the "use of language or action that is inappropriate in the workplace ... of a general offensive nature; and rude or discourteous behavior to a client or coworker."

Upon examination of these policies, the OGC found that the Regional Director for Region 34 should allege that both of the AMR's policies violated Section 8(a)(1) because employees could reasonably construe the provisions as prohibiting Section 7 activity. Specifically, the OGC found fault with both policies' proscription of "a broad spectrum of conduct" while at the same time failing to provide limiting language that would remove the rule's "ambiguity" as to whether it prohibited Section 7 activity."

The article cites additional cases, and points out some inconsistencies in the recent rulings.  This is an area of law to watch, as it is likely that additional precedent cases will create more clarity as to what is considered protected speech in social media networks.

The authors point out, "...employers also may wish to modify their policies by revising them to define more precisely the type of language that is prohibited, and also to make clear that nothing in the policy should be construed to limit employees' exercise of Section 7 rights."

This article is a useful resource, and provides references to many other sources for further information on this topic.