November 13, 2024
NLRB Catches Up to States Barring Captive Audience Speeches
As of this writing, at least 11 states have enacted a law that prohibits “captive audience” speeches. What is a captive audience speech? Generally, it refers to a mandatory meeting called by an employer to tell employees its position on certain issues, usually involving the decision to join, form, or assist a union. Some state law have included speeches regarding politics and/or religion.
On April 30, 1956, (yep, 1956) the NLRB held that such mandatory meetings during which an employer tells employees about its position opposing union organizing did not violate the NLRA.
Quick recap. Section 7 of the NLRA gives non-supervisory employees, whether they are represented by or belong to a union or not, the right to act in concert for their mutual aid or protection. This may include two or more non-supervisory employees talking with one another about their wages, hours, or other conditions of employment. Section 8 of the NLRA prohibits employers from interfering with, restraining or coercing employees in the exercise of those rights.
On November 13th, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) reversed that 68- year precedent. The NLRB announced that “an employer violates the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) by requiring employees under threat of discipline or discharge to attend meetings in which the employer expresses its views on unionization. Such meetings—commonly known as captive-audience meetings—violate the NLRA because they have a reasonable tendency to interfere with and coerce employees in the exercise of their Section 7 rights.”
However, the Board made clear that an employer may lawfully hold meetings with workers to express its views on unionization so long as workers are provided reasonable advance notice of:
- the subject of any such meeting,
- that attendance is voluntary with no adverse consequences for failure to attend, and
- that no attendance records of the meeting will be kept.
Practical application. If you have or plan to have any staff meetings that are mandatory and the purpose of which is to talk to your employees about the company’s position on certain matters that are not directly related to job performance (politics, religion, union organizing), consult with your company’s legal counsel first.
