Executive Summaries » Rewriting Employee Handbook Policies on Social Media

Rewriting Employee Handbook Policies on Social Media

May 3, 2013

Employer policies that address employee behavior and communications, including via social media, are regulated by the National Labor Relations Board, under the National Labor Relations Act. Section 7 of that law, which gives employees the right to self-organize, is particularly relevant with respect to social media.

The author describes recent unfair labor practice complaints involving social media and how they have been decided, and she offers some advice for rewriting handbooks based on those decisions. First and foremost, she suggests, confirm whether the NLRA applies to your company. If you are a multi-state operation it almost certainly does. If your workers fall into one of the excluded categories, such as public sector employees or independent contractors, it doesn’t.

Train your management team about the NLRB and other employment law basics. This is especially important in organizations where employment decision making is decentralized and there is no HR and/or legal department safety net to identify and stop risky choices. Any policy that broadly bans discourteous conduct poses a risk, because constructive criticism is protected. Expressly state that your policies do not apply to situations where two or more employees are discussing their employment in a manner that does not violate company policy relating to disclosure of confidential information, discrimination or harassment.

Keep an eye out for new state or federal law that would prohibit employers from asking for or demanding social media page passwords from job applicants and employees.

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