Those employers who have previously had the pleasure of “making the acquaintance” of the NLRB, probably already know that today’s NLRB is not your parents’ NLRB. Precedent that has stood for decades is being rewritten by the current Board at a frenetic pace. Case in point – a recent complaint issued by the NLRB’s Regional Office in Atlanta accuses a South Carolina Walmart store of violating federal labor law by sending an employee home for allegedly photographing a manager who was not wearing a COVID-protective safety mask at work. The complaint tells employers all they need to know about how expansively today’s NLRB interprets “protected concerted activities” under the Act.  In the Board’s view employees have a federally protected right to make video and audio recordings in the workplace and to criticize their employers and managers regarding workplace issues and policies, and much more that in the past would not have been considered “protected” behavior.  

This particular case involved the Walmart store’s mask requirements related to the COVID pandemic, where management is being accused of committing unfair labor practices by instructing employees not to complain in front of customers or to coworkers during work hours. The store’s policy of barring employees from making recordings in the workplace, is also a subject of the complaint. With personal cellular phones becoming more sophisticated, could it be long before employees are capable of producing academy award worthy productions, at work?

Questions? Contact James Sherman by email or at 952-746-1700