Workplace Speech and the NLRA: What Employers Need To Know To Stay on the Right Side of the Law

As anticipated, the Biden administration’s approach to labor policy has marked a decided shift from that of the previous administration — including changes affecting workplace speech. In this webinar, we will review current National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) law addressing limitations/restrictions on employer speech, including limitations on an employers’ right to interrogate an employee, disparage unions and union membership, speak during elections, and restrict employees from using employer-provided communication modalities (like email) to discuss union organizing. We will assess the administration’s activity in each of the above-mentioned areas, with a particular emphasis on NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo’s recent memorandum which made it a priority to reverse NLRB precedent that allowed employers to restrict employee email use concerning union organizing.

We will also address what an employee can and cannot say to employers, with particular focus on the nebulous realm of “protected concerted activity” under the National Labor Relations Act, both as a function of the up-to-the-minute status of the law, and the likely direction of the NLRB under a Democratic majority. We will also address more sweeping principles of employees’ employer-related speech, such as traditional First Amendment concerns, anti-retaliation provisions of federal statutes, and the limitations on employee rights to engage in damaging or defamatory speech regarding the employers’ business. And looking beyond the prism of employer-employee relations, the webinar will also touch on lawful and unlawful co-worker speech.

Time

9:00 – 10:00 a.m. PT
10:00 – 11:00 p.m. MT
11:00 – Noon p.m. CT
Noon – 1:00 p.m. ET
5:00 – 6:00 p.m. BST

Have a scheduling conflict? Register for the live event, and we’ll send you the on-demand recording shortly after the broadcast date.

Questions? Please contact Kassie Weld or call +1 612 766 7308.