protected activity

Subscribe to protected activity via RSS

Social media permeates society.  It was inevitable that the increased use of smart phones and various communications platforms such as Facebook and Twitter would clash with the workplace.  We have noted several instances where the NLRB has alleged that employer action in response to social media posts is unlawful, as…

Last week the NLRB issued several significant decisions.   In the press release announcing the decisions, the agency noted that most were actually issued “the week of December 10, but were issued this week following editing and formatting which is typical for the final decisions in a Member’s term.”  This is…

An issue we have discussed previously is whether all employee action that is “concerted” is also protected by the NLRA.  We have seen that maliciously false statements made to third parties are unprotected.  But what about when employees disagree with managerial control of the operations?  How far can they press…

The Board’s excruciatingly close scrutiny of employer policies continues as the agency looks for opportunities to expand its juridiction by rooting out all evil lurking in handbooks and other written employment policies.  The NLRB has taken the position that certain “at-will” language in handbooks, language that in various forms exists…

The Board’s fiscal year ended on September 30 with a whimper instead of a bang.  We saw a few decisions in the usual year end flurry but most of the major Board initiatives were advanced in the last two years, and so this probably is a calm before the Presidential…

The NLRB has received a lot of attention for its actions the last couple years.  One of the storms was caused by the agency’s attention to employer actions based on employee Facebook postings.  More to the point, employers were not too thrilled with some things being posted by employees on…

As the end of its fiscal year approaches (September 30), the NLRB pushes more decisions out than it has in the last several weeks.  Not a whole lot are of note, honestly.  There seems to be an uptick of default judgments being issued,-findings of violations of the NLRA without a…

Last year the NLRB’s order of the day was sweeping change.  That brought us the employee rights poster, the ambush election rules, and micro unions.  The Board today is not acting in such a bold manner, and instead is seeking gradual change through a policy of incrementalism.