NLRB bans mandatory captive-audience meetings

Well, here we go again. On November 13, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) held that an employer violates the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) by interfering with employees’ Section 7 rights when it compels them, “on pain of discipline or discharge,” to attend a meeting where the employer expresses its views on unionization. Such meetings, commonly known as “captive-audience meetings,” have been used to communicate directly with employees during a union campaign. The decision will only apply prospectively and will certainly be subject to challenges by employers.

Prior standard

In its decision in Amazon.com Services LLC, the Board jettisoned 76 years of precedent by overruling Babcock & Wilcox Co. That 1948 decision legally sanctioned mandating meetings for employers to talk to their employees about unionization—provided the employer wasn’t coercive and didn’t make unlawful threats and promises.

Thus, simply requiring employees to attend mandatory meetings was, until now, lawful.

Lawful voluntary meetings

To provide “clear guidance” in its new ruling, the current Board established a “safe harbor” from liability for employers that wish to express their views about unionization in the workplace to a group of employees during work time. Going forward, an employer will not violate the NLRA “if, reasonably in advance of the meeting, it informs employees” that: