The National Labor Relations Board has finally decided the Register-Guard case.  In this case, the NLRB ruled that employers have the right to prohibit employees from using a company’s email system to send union-related messages, a decision that obviously interferes with communications between labor unions and their membership.

Labor Board Restricts Union Use of E-Mail

There is somewhat of a kicker, however.  The NLRB found that this prohibition by employers is ok if there is a policy barring employees from using email for “non-job-related solicitations” for outside organizations.  It’s easy to have such a policy.  The problem is enforcing it consistently.

If your employees use email to solicit for the United Way, holiday funds, their children’s schools, Rotary and Kiwanis, and an endless list of other outside organizations, your non-solicitation policy may not be worth anything when employees begin to use email for union solicitations.  In other words, you can’t have a non-solicitation policy that applies only to unions.

In light of the NLRB’s decision, now is the perfect time to review the policy you have, possibly change it, implement one if you haven’t yet, and scrutinize how the policy is applied.  This is a big decision by the NLRB–if your policy is consistently applied.

Another thing to keep in mind.  The NLRB is a highly politicized agency.  The ruling in this case was 3-2.  If the Democrats regain the White House, it’s likely that new NLRB appointees will agree with the minority in this case, and the decision will be reversed.  That sort of thing happens with the NLRB when a different party occupies the White House.  But for now, labor unions have been dealt a blow.  It’s up to you to take advantage of it.

For more on this decision, go to the NLRB’s website, www.nlrb.gov, or check out the agency’s press release on this matter.