MEAT+POULTRY - January 2015 - 94

LABOR

Talking the talk
As workers find more and different ways to communicate
with each other and those outside the company, employers
need to stay on top of the latest legal and regulatory
developments in terms of how employers can discipline
or terminate employees. This will help limit trouble
with regulators, minimize the potential for lawsuits and,
hopefully, avoid negative publicity.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the
federal agency responsible for policing our nation's labor
laws and which enforces the National Labor Relations Act,
protects the rights of most private-sector employees to join
together to improve their wages
and working conditions - known
as "protected concerted activity."
This is true whether employees
are unionized or not. Employees
who believe their rights have been
violated can file charges against
their employers through the
NLRB's regional offices.

SOCIAL MEDIA
As employers grapple with
comments and postings their
employees make on Facebook,
LinkedIn and other social-media
Employees who outlets, they must do so with an
eye toward the National Labor
believe their
Relations Act. Common social
rights have been media policies, such as policies
violated can file instructing employees not to post
charges against false or derogatory statements
online, have been found by the
their employers. NLRB to infringe upon employees'
rights to engage in protected
concerted activity, and, thus, have been held unlawful.
For example, on April 7, 2014, Valero Services Inc. agreed
to rescind its nationwide social media policy in response
to a complaint filed by the NLRB. The board's complaint
claimed Valero Services's social media policy interfered
with employees' rights to discuss their terms and
conditions of employment.

COMMUNICATION POLICIES
Recently, the NLRB took a look at Hills and Dales General
Hospital's "Values and Standards of Behavior" policy. The
NLRB found several aspects of the policy were unlawful

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on the surface because the policy could prohibit protected
concerted activity.
In 2011, the hospital cited its policy, which required
employees to present the hospital in a "positive and
professional manner," when it issued a written warning to
an employee for posting an explicit comment on Facebook
aimed at fellow employees.
According to the NLRB, the employee was responding
to remarks by a former coworker who had been fired for
"playfully throwing a yogurt cup at [her] boss."
The NLRB ordered the hospital to revise or rescind the
paragraphs in question. "This is the standard remedy to
assure that employees may engage in protected activity
without fear of being subjected to an unlawful rule,"
according to the decision.

NEXT STEPS
Between changing technologies and increasing NLRB
activity, it's time for employers to carefully consider a
wide range of issues involving their communications
policies. If companies don't have policies on social media,
external communications and email, they need to consider
implementing them. If they do have policies in place,
companies should revisit them and update as necessary.
Employers should work very closely with in-house and
outside counsel when drafting or updating policies. They
should also proceed carefully before taking any actions to
discipline or terminate employees for violating any type of
communication policy.
When reviewing and revising company policies,
employers should avoid broad terms - such as "negativity."
Instead, employers should include examples and
clarification of such terms, making clear, for example, that
policies are directed toward discrimination, harassment, or
other types of unlawful activity.
Employers must also proactively stay on top of changes
in policy, regulations and enforcement by the NLRB. Even if
they don't have unionized workforces, NLRB decisions can
have profound impact on employers' day-to-day operations.
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MEAT+POULTRY - January 2015

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