Reference no: EM132697082

The NLRB's Perspective Evolves

At first, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) allowed an employer's written policy that prohibited the use of a company-provided e-mail system for non-job-related solicitations. Then the NLRB reversed its position. "[W]e decide today that employee use of e-mail for statutorily protected communications on non-working time must presumptively be permitted by employers who have chosen to give employees access to their e-mail systems." The NLRB claimed that its earlier decision had failed to adequately protect "employees' rights under the NLRA." The board also stated that it had a responsibility "to adapt the Act to the changing patterns of industrial life."

The rules are clear. Once an organizing election is scheduled, a company must turn over all telephone numbers and home and e-mail addresses of the company's employees to union organizers within two days. The organizers can then communicate with employees via the company's e-mail system.

Problem 1: Employees meeting around the water cooler or coffee machine have always had the right to discuss work-related matters. Is an employer-provided e-mail system or social media outlet simply a digital water cooler? Why or why not?