Commentary: More than a year after the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) momentous Purple Communications, Inc. decision, determining that employers must allow off-duty employees to use the company email system to engage in activities like union organizing, we reflect on the continued haze and lack of clarity in this critical area.
The sharply divided 3-2 decision, in which the majority concluded that “employee use of email for statutorily protected communications on nonworking time must presumptively be permitted by employers who have chosen to give employees access to their email systems,” represents a major shift from a long-standing principle that an employer’s property rights must, on occasion, take precedence over employees’ Section 7 rights to communicate on matters relating to terms and conditions of employment, such as union organizing.
