Use of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and myriad other social media sites by employees has exploded in recent years. Employees venting on these far-reaching networks about their frustrations in the workplace have the potential to create workplace harassment issues, damage their employers’ business reputations and broadcast their employers’ confidential information to the world. Yet, there may be limitations on the actions employers can take without contravening the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), regardless of whether their employees are represented by a labor union, as an employee’s social media posts regarding terms and conditions of employment may be deemed protected concerted activity. This month’s column discusses the guidance that has been provided by the National Labor Relations Board to date in this evolving area.
Background
Most employers had probably never considered how Facebook and other social media would interact with labor law until the board’s Hartford regional office issued a complaint in October 2010 against a Connecticut ambulance company alleging, among other things, that an employee’s discharge for posting negative remarks about her supervisor on her personal Facebook page violated the NLRA. See American Medical Response, NLRB Case No. 34-CA-12576.
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