Employers in New York can no longer discipline employees who opt not to attend “captive audience” meetings under a new state law. Employers generally hold these mandatory meetings to express their views on unionization to their workforce.

The new law amends Section 201-d of the New York State Labor Law, which already prohibited employer discrimination on the basis of an individual’s political activities, off-duty use of cannabis and union membership. The amendment specifically prohibits employers from requiring attendance at meetings where the primary purpose is to communicate the employer’s opinion concerning religious or political matters, including unionization. The law does not, however, prohibit employers and their agents from having “casual conversations” with employees on these topics, so long as participation is not mandatory. New York employers are also required to post a notice to employees informing them of their rights under this law.

New York joins Maine, Oregon, Connecticut and Minnesota in prohibiting captive audience meetings. The Connecticut law is being challenged by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for conflicting with the First and Fourteenth Amendments and Section 8(c) of the National Labor Relations Act, which permits employers to express and disseminate their views about unionization in a non-coercive manner.

Though there is no similar ban at the federal level, the National Labor Relations Board’s General Counsel has been vocal that she views captive audience meetings as inherently coercive under federal labor law.

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