The National Trial Lawyers
  • Home
    • Meet Our Team
    • Contact Us
    • Mission & Goals
    • FAQ
  • Webinars
  • News
  • Membership Directory
    • Top 100 Map – Civil Plaintiff
    • Top 100 Map – Criminal Defense
    • Top 40 Under 40 Map – Civil Plaintiff
    • Top 40 Under 40 Map – Criminal Defense
  • Top 100
    • Civil Plaintiff Officers / Executive Committee
    • Criminal Defense Officers / Executive Committee
    • Benefits
    • About
    • Top 100 President’s Message
    • Diplomat
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Top 100 Badge
    • Media
  • Top 40
    • Civil Plaintiff Officers / Executive Committee
    • Criminal Defense Officers / Executive Committee
    • Top 40 Under 40 Trial Academy Bootcamp
    • Benefits
    • About
    • Top 40 President’s Message
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Top 40 Badge
    • Media
  • Specialty Assoc
    • About
    • Shop
    • Officers
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Media
  • Nominate
    • Top 100
    • Top 40
    • Specialty Association
    • Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame
    • Trial Lawyer of the Year
    • Trial Team of the Year
    • America’s Most Influential Trial Lawyer
    • America’s Most Influential Law Firm
    • Lifetime Achievement Award
  • Shop
  • Magazine
    • A-List
  • Education and Networking Agenda
    • Trial Lawyers Summit
      • Summit Sponsors
    • Top 40 Under 40 Trial Academy Boot Camp
    • Mass Torts Made Perfect
    • The Lanier Master Class 5.0 Trial Academy 2021
    • Webinars
  • Hall of Fame
    • Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame

NLRB Issues Worker-Friendly Decision Regarding Employee Email Use

Posted on January 12, 2015 by Eleanor Smith

NLRB Issues Worker-Friendly Decision Regarding Employee Email UseThe National Labor Relations Board has overruled its 2007 decision that said employees have no right to the use their employers’ email systems for personal use on nonworking time. The Board has now decided employee use of company email must be permitted for protected communications on nonworking time.

It’s no secret the use of e-mail as a form of workplace communication has dramatically increased in recent years, as is demonstrated by this recent worker-friendly National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision. The NLRB decreed on December 11, 2014 that employers must allow their employees to use email for statutorily protected communications on nonworking time if employers have already given employees access to the workplace email communication system.

In an effort to adapt the National Labor Relations Act to changing workplace life that reflects current patterns of industrialism, the NLRB determined that email communications in the workplace are more valuable than employers’ right to company property.

The Board made clear the decision, which applies to effective communications regarding self-organization and other terms and conditions of employment and is effectively retroactive, is a limited one in two manners:

  • First, it applies to employees who have already been granted access to the employer’s email system in the course of their work and does not require employers to provide such access.
  • Second, an employer may justify a total ban on non-work use of email when special circumstances, such as production or disciplinary action, apply.

 

Policy prohibiting personal emails

“There is little dispute that email has become a critical means of communication, about both work-related and other issues, in a wide range of employment settings.”

This decision was sparked by a provider of sign-language interpretation services which held a strict policy prohibiting the use of email systems to send emails of a personal nature. Employees objected to this policy, including objections asserting the electronic communications policy interfered with the interpretors’ freedom of choice. Additionally, an unfair labor practices charge was filed, leading to the issuance of the complaint allegation which came before the NLRB.

The Board found that the use of email as a means of employee communication within the workplace can hardly be overstated as a necessity. Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act grants employees “the right to engage in concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid protection.” The Board found, “Such collective action cannot come about without communication.”

The Board considered the history of the National Labor Relations Act in making its decision regarding employee email usage. It recognized the importance of the freedom of communication and its connection to the free exercise of organization rights early in the administration of the Act. Because the use of employees’ Section 7 rights necessarily encompasses the right to communicate effectively with one another regarding self-organization on the jobsite, the Board supported the employees’ need to share information and opinions in an acute context such as email.

Worker and Union Friendly

Not only is this a worker-friendly decision by the NLRB, it is also a union-friendly decision. “The workplace is one where employees clearly share common interests and where they traditionally seek to persuade fellow workers in matters affecting their union organizational life and other matters related to their status as employees,” according to the Board. The centrality of the employees’ workplace communication as a Section 7 right was a key consideration in the Board’s decision.

Also considered by the NLRB was the nature and common use of business email in the workplace by employees. “There is little dispute that email has become a critical means of communication, about both work-related and other issues, in a wide range of employment settings,” the Board determined, while also acknowledging the importance of email even in a non-work environment. By expanding the number of people employees are able to communicate with and by improving the ability of employees to do their jobs in making these communications, the Board found that email can help keep workers connected to their jobs, even in non-working hours.

The Board’s majority recognized that technological advances are constantly changing and accelorating. Admitting that its decision cannot resolve all of the questions that will arise as a result of recognizing the right of employees to utilize employers’ email systems for protected communications on nonworking time, the Board remained unwilling to close its eyes to the importance of the electronic means of communications.

Additionally, the Board stressed the importance of the employees’ rights under Section 7 of the Act. Acknowledging its duty to undertake its obligation to accommodate the competing rights of employees and employers by applying and adapting longstanding and flexible Supreme Court precedent, the National Labor Relations Board has opened a gateway of possibilities for related worker-friendly decisions in the future.

Posted in Blog, Employment

Comments are closed.

News Categories

Subscribe to Blog and VFJ via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog, the Voice for Justice and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Read about other Top Jury Verdicts

Sterling Bancorp Agrees to $12.5 Million Settlement with Oklahoma Police Pension & Retirement System

Sterling Bancorp Agrees to $12.5 Million Settlement with Oklahoma Police Pension & Retirement System

Sterling Bancorp Inc. agreed to pay $12.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by the $3.1 billion Oklahoma Po[Read More...]
Boy Scouts of America and The Hartford Enter $650 Million Settlement for Sex Abuse Claims

Boy Scouts of America and The Hartford Enter $650 Million Settlement for Sex Abuse Claims

After years of legal dispute, The Hartford has entered into a settlement agreement and release with the Boy Scouts [Read More...]
Playland Operator Reaches $12 Million Bankruptcy Settlement

Playland Operator Reaches $12 Million Bankruptcy Settlement

The Westchester County Board of Legislators last week approved a bankruptcy court settlement with Standard Amusements regardi[Read More...]
Santa Fe Agrees To a $36M Settlement With the Firms Responsible For Constructing Its Water Project

Santa Fe Agrees To a $36M Settlement With the Firms Responsible For Constructing Its Water Project

The board of the Santa Fe city and county’s joint Buckman Direct Diversion agreed to a $36 million settlement last wee[Read More...]
Health Net Repaid $97.2M To Settle an Investigation Confirming It Over-Billed the U.S. For Veterans Care

Health Net Repaid $97.2M To Settle an Investigation Confirming It Over-Billed the U.S. For Veterans Care

A Rancho Cordova health insurance company has repaid $97.2 million to settle an investigation into inflated claims submitted [Read More...]

#LegalNews

@@TheNTLtop100

Contact Us | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

Attorney information and content provided on this website is provided for the benefit of members of The National Trial Lawyers and as a public service by Legal Associations Management, Inc. The website and all data are the property of Legal Associations Management, Inc. Data, including without limitation attorney information and content, on the site may not be mined, sold, or used commercially for any purpose without the explicit written consent of Legal Associations Management, Inc. This site may not be accessed by any automated program for extracting data for any use. By accessing and using the site you agree that you will not develop, support or use software, devices, scripts, robots, or any other means or processes (including crawlers, browser plug-ins and add-ons, or any other technology) to scrape data or otherwise copy profiles and other data. Unauthorized use or attempted unauthorized use of this system may subject you to both civil and criminal penalties.