December 26, 2007
By: John Lovett

By adopting the right policy language, employers may now prohibit workers from using the employer’s e-mail system to solicit for unions and other outside organizations. Such policies may be enforced even though employees are permitted to use e-mail for personal communications at work.

On December 21, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued its long awaited decision on employer e-mail policies. In The Guard Publishing Company, 351 NLRB No. 70 (2007), the NLRB approves an e-mail policy designed to keep the employer’s e-mail system free from union organizing and other solicitation while permitting employees to use e-mail for personal communications.

For a discussion of the policy language required and more details click on our website for the latest labor and employment law developments, fbtemployerlaw.com.

The NLRB’s Guard Publishing Company decision recognizes that an employer who forbids solicitations on its e-mail network for unions and all other outside products and organizations is not unlawfully discriminating against unions simply because the employer permits employees to use e-mail at work for other communication unrelated to the employer’s business.

The NLRB issued this landmark decision on the last day the Board had a Republican majority.