NLRB, Free Speech

Election Season in the Workplace: Employers’ Essential FAQs for 2024

Fisher Phillips on 9/12/2024

The election season promises to be turbulent, and your workplace will not be immune from the challenges that are sure to face us. What do you need to know about your rights and responsibilities as an employer now that the...more

In Compliance: Holtzman Vogel's August 2024 Round-Up

Holtzman Vogel Baran Torchinsky & Josefiak on 8/28/2024

Eighth Circuit Invalidates Missouri's Two-Year Lobbying Ban for Former Legislators and Staffers - The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals invalidated a Missouri state constitutional amendment that imposed a two-year lobbying...more

2024 Election – Can It Be A Hot Topic In Your Workplace?

Robinson+Cole Manufacturing Law Blog on 7/25/2024

With the 2024 election fast approaching, and political news exploding, manufacturers are asking an important question: What is the role of political bobbleheads, pins, stickers, and discussions in the workplace?...more

Captive Audience Meetings: An Area Fraught for Employers

ArentFox Schiff on 6/28/2024

If you’ve managed a workforce during a union organizing campaign, you’re likely familiar with captive audience meetings; compulsory sessions at which managers try to persuade employees to reject the union. For over 70 years,...more

EntertainHR: Can Employers Do That? The Limits of Free Speech

FordHarrison on 1/17/2024

Public debate about the Israel-Hamas war demonstrates that Americans have strong, and often divergent, views on important social and political issues. Believing that their right to express those views is firmly grounded in...more

Held Captive No More: New York Enacts Legislation Prohibiting Mandatory Meetings Regarding Employers’ Political (But Really Union)...

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 9/19/2023

Seyfarth Synopsis: On September 6, 2023, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law legislation that, effective immediately, prohibits employers from disciplining employees who refuse to participate in meetings concerning...more

New York, Minnesota, and Maine Ban “Captive Audience Meetings” – But the Fight is Just Beginning

Fisher Phillips on 8/14/2023

Effective August 1, Minnesota now prohibits employers from “captive audience meetings” – that is, requiring, under threat of discharge, discipline, or some other penalty, employee attendance or participation in...more

NLRB General Counsel Doubles Down on Captive Audience Meetings in Response to Legal Challenge

Fisher Phillips on 3/27/2023

As you may know, the NLRB’s top prosecutor issued a memo last year seeking to bar employers from convening employee meetings on working time to address union representation unless they provide employees specific assurances...more

Employment Implications Arising from Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization

Holland & Knight LLP on 6/30/2022

The U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization on June 24, 2022, overturning Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey and holding that there is no right to abortion in the U.S....more

Employee Activism, Safety, and Support Amid Difficult Issues

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on 6/30/2022

Recent social and political controversies, such as rulings from the Supreme Court of the United States, international conflicts, and mass shootings, are likely to cause more employees to voice their opinions and frustrations...more

'Any Person' May File Unfair Labor Practice Charges With the NLRB

Snell & Wilmer on 5/25/2022

In a recent decision, FDRLST Media, LLC v. National Labor Relations Board (No. 20-3434 & 3492 3rd Cir. May 20, 2022), the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (“Court”) denied enforcement of an order of the...more

Connecticut Poised to Ban ‘Captive Audience’ Meetings and Expand Employee Free Speech Protections

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on 5/13/2022

Recently, the Connecticut General Assembly sent Public Act No. 22-24 (Substitute Senate Bill No. 163), “An Act Protecting Employee Freedom of Speech and Conscience,” to Governor Ned Lamont’s desk for signature. It is unclear...more

NLRB General Counsel Seeks to Reinstate Radical Standard for Union Recognition and Restrict Employer Free Speech During Corporate...

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on 4/19/2022

In contravention of decades-old precedent, employers may be required to recognize unions without a secret ballot election, thereby denying employers the opportunity to protect the private choice of their employees. The...more

NLRB General Counsel Urges Board to Find Captive Audience Speeches are Unlawful

Franczek P.C. on 4/19/2022

For decades, employers have been permitted to hold mandatory meetings or “captive audience speeches” in response to union organizing campaigns to present the company’s position on unionization. On April 7, 2022, the National...more

Rough Waters Ahead: NLRB General Counsel Seeks to Bar Employer-Mandated Meetings to Discuss Union Organizing

ArentFox Schiff on 4/13/2022

Buckle up, it’s about to get choppy. Employers sailing in National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) waters have come to expect rough seas. By one estimate, the Board overturned more than 4,500 cumulative years of...more

NLRB's Top Prosecutor Seeks to Muzzle Employers by Banning Employee Meetings

FordHarrison on 4/13/2022

Executive Summary: In an April 7, 2022 memo from the NLRB, General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo (“Abruzzo”) announced her intent to challenge employers’ long-standing practice of holding informational meetings regarding union...more

NLRB’s Top Sheriff Calls for Abrupt End to 75 Years of Lawful “Captive Audience” Meetings

Fisher Phillips on 4/12/2022

The NLRB’s top prosecutor just issued a memo which seeks to bar employers from convening employee meetings on working time to address union representation unless they provide employees specific assurances that participation...more

NLRB General Counsel Abruzzo Seeks to Limit Long-Standing Employer Free Speech Right

Littler on 4/8/2022

On April 7, 2022, General Counsel (GC) Jennifer A. Abruzzo released Memorandum 22-04, The Right to Refrain from Captive Audience and other Mandatory Meetings. As set forth in the memorandum, GC Abruzzo will urge the National...more

D.C. Circuit Flips NLRB; Employer’s Alleged ‘Baseless’ Statements Of Opinion Lawful

Jackson Lewis P.C. on 6/14/2021

“Absent threats or promises, § 8(c) [of the National Labor Relations Act] unambiguously protects ‘any views, argument tor opinion’ – even those that the agency finds misguided, flimsy, or daft,” the D.C. Circuit has held....more

Absolute Freedom to Tweet? Employers (and the NLRA) May Have Something to Say About It

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP on 1/27/2021

Do you need a social media policy or are the legal obstacles just too much? Now more than ever, people are exercising their First Amendment right to free speech, which, not surprisingly, can cause heartburn at the workplace....more

NLRB Seeks Comment: Rats, Banners and Neutrals, Oh My!

Proskauer - Labor Relations Update on 10/30/2020

An age old question under the National Labor Relations Act is what constitutes “picketing”? By the Supreme Court’s definition, picketing is inherently coercive and may not be directed against a neutral employer. An issue...more

The Election Season Is Upon Us: Guidance for Managing Political Expression in the California Workplace

Farella Braun + Martel LLP on 10/27/2020

In a year of extraordinary events, this election has been more divisive and controversial than any other in recent history. Many employers are grappling with how they should manage political expression in the workplace. An...more

Political Speech in the Workplace (And What – If Anything – To Do About It)

Ward and Smith, P.A. on 10/21/2020

Politics could hardly be more conspicuous these days. A monumental presidential election looms on the horizon, and it seems that everyone has an opinion. Many who do have jobs and bring those opinions into the workplace....more

Political and Controversial Activity in the Workplace [More with McGlinchey Ep. 11]

McGlinchey Stafford on 10/16/2020

Election season is in full swing and the climate is certainly charged. In this episode of “More with McGlinchey,” Labor and Employment attorneys Mag Bickford, Rasch Brown, Camille Bryant, and Kathy Conklin discuss employees’...more

Turbulence Ahead: Navigating Political Speech in the Workplace during an Election Year and Global Pandemic

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 10/9/2020

Seyfarth Synopsis: In a tumultuous year full of social unrest, a pandemic, and a Presidential election, it is no wonder employers find themselves grappling with how—and whether—to regulate politics in the workplace. Options...more

National Labor Relations Board › Free Speech

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