Employer Law Blog

Social media allows people to connect with people that they know and investigate people that they do not know. Employers commonly use social media as a tool to discover information about job applicants and to monitor their employees' online activities. However, employers should beware of the litigation potential before disciplining their employees for social media conduct they consider to be disloyal, insubordinate or offensive to the company.

The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) started 2014 by capitulating on its efforts to force employers to post a notice at work which advised employees how they could form a union in order to collectively bargain. The NLRB announced this mandatory posting rule in August 2011, which would have required all private sector employers, whether unionized or not, to conspicuously post an 11x17 notice at work that outlined a number of employee rights under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”). While the new posting obligation was originally scheduled to take effect in November 2011, a number of legal challenges were filed which delayed enforcement of this posting obligation.