Employees Have Right To Use Email For Union Organization
A new NLRB decision may make it easier for employees looking to organize at their workplace. On December 11, the National Labor Relations Board held that “employee use of email for statutorily protected communications on nonworking time must presumptively be permitted by employers who have chosen to give employees access to their email systems.” This decision, handed down in Purple Communications Inc., 361 NLRB 126 (2014), reverses its previous decision in Register Guard, 351 NLRB 1110 (2007).
The Board noted that their decision is carefully limited. It only applies to employees who have already been given access to the employer’s email system, and in no way requires employers to provide such access. It also allows employers to justify a total ban on non work use of email by demonstrating that special circumstances make the ban necessary to maintain production or discipline.
