The National Labor Relations board specifies several specific, non-negotiable issues that all employers, regardless of the size of the business, need to know.

As a small business owner, you may have encountered a situation where your employees have discussed their pay with each other. Or perhaps you discovered an online post that says negative things about you or one of your managers. You are understandably upset, but the question is whether they can do this and what if any recourse you may have regarding their discussion of their work conditions.

There are many regulations that small business owners need to be aware of and to follow. 

So, what can you do if you discover employees discussing work conditions, managers or comparing their pay? The answer is nothing!  According to the National Labor Relations Board, employees do have the right to discuss their wages, their working conditions and their employers and/or managers both online and in person. If you attempt to silence them or restrict these conversations in any way, you will be in violation of federal law.

In order to limit your liability, it is very important that both you and all of your managers understand this. These rules apply to all workplaces, union or non-union.  The main issues to know are:

• You can never prohibit employees from discussing pay, management or working conditions.
• It is important to have written social media policies that are distributed to every employee. However, you must make sure these policies do not infringe on any of these above-mentioned protected rights. If you are unsure, you can contact my firm SACS Consulting, another HR consultant or legal counsel for advice.
• Review your company policies annually. Have a written handbook that you can update as necessary. This is extremely important as laws and enforcement trends at the National Labor Relations Board can change with political shifts.

While you aren’t expected to know every law, you are responsible for knowing the limits of what you can and can’t do in these situations and for educating all of your management on the rules. If you choose to ignore or not to do this, you and your business can be held liable for financial and other damages, legal repercussions, diminished employee morale and numerous other hassles that can severely and negatively impact your bottom line.

President, SACS Consulting & Investigative Services, Speaker, Trainer, Corporate Security Expert Timothy A. Dimoff, CPP, president of SACS Consulting & Investigative Services, Inc., is a speaker, trainer and author and a leading authority in high-risk workplace and human resource security and crime issues. He is a Certified Protection Professional; a certified legal expert in corporate security procedures and training; a member of the Ohio and International Narcotic Associations; the Ohio and National Societies for Human Resource Managers; and the American Society for Industrial Security. He holds a B.S. in Sociology, with an emphasis in criminology, from Dennison University. Contact him at info@sacsconsulting.com.