It’s an easy trap for employers — if your health care facility doesn’t have a union, you may feel like the National Labor Relations Act doesn’t have much application in your workplace. After all, the NLRA was designed to handle labor relations problems, and you have to have a union before labor issues can arise — right?

Unfortunately, this misconception is far from the truth. In reality, it is those facilities which are not unionized that most frequently run afoul of the provisions of the Act — and they often do so by simply enforcing their own policies and rules. And, under the expanding laws, a company’s social media policy may be the biggest trap of them all.

What is the National Labor Relations Act?

First, it is important to understand exactly what the law does. The National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) defines the rights of employees to organize to join a union, and to bargain collectively with their employers through union representatives; however, in addition to conducting union elections and overseeing the collective bargaining process, the Act also protects employees in exercising additional rights, including the right to engage in protected, concerted activity. Employees receive this protection whether a union is involved or not; as such, this is where most employers run unto trouble.