On Wednesday, November 13, 2024, the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB") held that captive audience meetings violate federal labor law.
Captive Audience Meetings.
A captive audience meeting is a mandatory meeting during working
hours with an employee where the company shares information and
arguments to discourage organizing or joining a labor union.
Several states have passed state laws banning these meetings
altogether. But outside the few states that ban it, captive
audience meetings were a legal, oft-utilized method to freely
communicate with employees about the benefits of remaining a
non-unionized workplace. That is no longer allowed on a nationwide,
federal level.
The Case.
The NLRB found that captive audience meetings (or, as they
characterized them, mandatory anti-union meetings) violate the
National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA"). According to the
NLRB majority board, captive audience meetings interfere with
workers' freedom to exercise their labor rights by compelling
them to hear the company view. Now, companies may hold meetings to
share their views only if they alert workers to the subject in
advance, make it voluntary to attend, and do not take
attendance. Companies may not penalize employees who skip the
meeting.
The case, Amazon Services LLC, was decided 3-1. The three board members who voted in favor of outlawing captive audience meetings are Democrats who have controlled the NLRB since 2021 under the current President Biden administration. The lone dissenting board member is a Republican who voted in favor of keeping captive audience meetings lawful.
The Future.
The future is unknown. This ruling may be appealed. But as we
indicated in an article yesterday on other NLRB actions, the
agency may be incredibly active over the next few months. That is
because we will soon have a new President with the election of
Former President Trump, which likely will mean that the NLRB will
soon be comprised of a majority Republican board members. Thus, the
current NLRB may issue several decisions before that change occurs,
which will likely be the law for several years until the next
iteration of the NLRB inevitably curtails the changes, including
this one. But for now, we know that mandatory captive audience
meetings are unlawful under this NLRB precedent.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
