Labor board decision allows companies more control over email systems

Reported today on TechSpot

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Labor board decision allows companies more control over email systems

Google urged revision of a 2014 ruling allowed employees to use company property for union-related activism

A hot potato: Google may be one step closer to justifying its firing of employee activists who have accused it of terminating them in retaliation for attempting to unionize. The Labor Board has made a ruling that will allow employers more control over company property including IT equipment and email systems.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled that companies can block their employees from using corporate email for organizing protests. The decision comes as Google faces accusations of the wrongful termination of several employee activists.

"Employees do not have a statutory right to use employers' email and other information-technology (IT) resources to engage in non-work-related communications," the NLRB said on Tuesday, after a 3-1 vote cemented the decision. "Rather, employers have the right to control the use of their equipment, including their email and other IT systems, and they may lawfully exercise that right provided that in doing so, they do not discriminate against union or other protected concerted communications."

"Employees do not have a statutory right to use employers' email to engage in non-work-related communications."

The decision marked the settlement of a dispute between Caesars Entertainment and the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades involving the right for workers to use their work emails for organizing. A board decision from 2014 involving Purple Communication allowed such use under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The NLRB was asked to consider revert

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