*By Jonathan D. Decker
Despite two federal courts’ invalidation of the National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB”) “posting rule,” the NLRB marked this year’s Labor Day holiday by introducing a mobile app designed to inform employers and employees about the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”). According to the NLRB, this app “provides employers, employees and unions with information regarding their rights and obligations under the National Labor Relations Act.”
Obviously, the NLRB’s new app makes it easier for employees to receive information about the NLRA, as well as connect with the NLRB. The app allows users to contact the NLRB’s main telephone line from their smartphone with just a few clicks. The app can also use the smartphone’s GPS function to locate the nearest NLRB regional office and display the office’s contact information, including address and telephone number. In addition, the app contains language similar to the NLRB’s “posting rule,” including a statement to employees that “[w]hether or not you are represented by a union, federal law gives you the right to join together with coworkers to improve your lives at work – including joining together in cyberspace, such as on Facebook.” The NLRB’s launch of its new app tracks a similar strategy the Department of Labor (“DOL”) recently initiated, including a “Timesheet” application to record hours worked and calculate the amount an employee may be owed by their employers. Zashin & Rich Co., L.P.A. explained the DOL’s app in a May 2011 alert.
This latest app demonstrates the NLRB’s continued strategy to reach out to workers regarding their rights under the NLRA, even in the face of judicial scrutiny of the agency’s recent activities. In an increasingly digital world, employers must recognize the issues posed by technology in the workplace, account for employees’ ease of access to the NLRB’s information, and utilize proactive measures to counter the NLRB’s more aggressive posture.
