Employers Can Prohibit Employees from Linking to Employer Websites from Personal Blogs

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) stated in a recent case that employer policies preventing employees from linking to employer websites from personal blogs was under lawful Boeing Category 1(a), which refers to a set of standards used to determine if employer policies interfere with employees’ NLRA-protected rights.

Boeing Category 1(a), arising from a 2017 case involving The Boeing Company, includes rules the NLRB deems permissible for employers to maintain because (1) when reasonably interpreted, the rule does not prohibit or interfere with exercising NLRA-protected rights, or (2) the potential adverse impact on protected rights is outweighed by justifications associated with the rule.

In Shamrock Foods Co., the NLRB stated that a policy discouraging employees from linking to an employer’s website from a personal blog fell into this category.  The NLRB reasoned that the policy was intended to protect the company’s brand identity, integrity, and reputation, and to minimize the impression that the employee is endorsed by or speaking on behalf of the employer, and not to restrict employees’ NLRA-protected rights.

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