Business-only Email Rules are Presumptively Unlawful, Restrain Employees' New Rights to Use Company Email for Section 7 Activity: NLRB | Practical Law
In Purple Communications, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) overruled the core holding in Guard Publishing (Register-Guard) and held that employees who are provided access to employer email systems for work have a statutory right under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to use those systems to communicate about union matters and the terms and conditions of employment during nonworking time. The NLRB adopted a presumption that email rules banning nonwork use of email violate the NLRA unless an employer demonstrates that special circumstances make the ban necessary to maintain production or discipline.