Employees frequently engage in discussions regarding issues affecting the workplace on social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Because these discussions may involve statements that negatively affect employers, last year we recommended that employers adopt policies that “both educate employees as to the company’s expectations of the appropriate norms for online behavior, and give managers and HR personnel guidelines on how to prudently leverage the information obtained from social-networking sites.”[FOOTNOTE 1] One issue that has been the subject of much discussion recently with respect to such policies is the question of whether discipline imposed because of an employee’s statements on a social networking website violates the employee’s rights under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act.
Section 7 of the NLRA creates a right for private-sector employees who are covered by the NLRA,[FOOTNOTE 2] whether unionized or not, “to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.” National Labor Relations Act §7, 29 U.S.C. §157 (2006).
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