NLRB Rules that Employers Can Bar Union Use of Employer Email Systems

In a positive development for employers – whether their workforces or unionized or not – the National Labor Relations Board has definitively held that an employer may prohibit a union, or employees seeking to solicit or organize for a union, from using company email systems to communicate.

What This Decision Means to You

You can rest easy, knowing that you can lawfully control access to your email systems, keeping it from being wielded as a weapon by a union seeking to organize your work force. The decision also clarifies when an employer could be found to have engaged in ​“discriminatory enforcement” of an email policy.

Here are some steps you should take: (1) Review and update your email policies (2) Educate your employees and (3) Enforce your policy consistency.