Recognizing that one of the most important business issues of our time is how businesses manage social media and their employees who use it, the National Labor Relations Board has issued yet another report discussing guidelines for employers to follow with regards to social media. The report provides an extensive analysis of several specific cases but, according to the NLRB summary, there are two main points of emphasis:
-Employer policies should not be so sweeping that they prohibit the kinds of activity protected by federal labor law, such as the discussion of wages or working conditions among employees.
-An employee’s comments on social media are generally not protected if they are mere gripes not made in relation to group activity among employees.
In other words, employers must make sure their social media policies are appropriately tailored and employees do not get a free pass to just say what they want.
But, i believe there is something more important to take from this action than the details of the report. A lot more. It is the message the NLRB is sending. By issuing another report on this issue, the NLRB is essentially saying what I have been writing: social media policies are extremely important for businesses and are something that every single one must have!
