NYS Passes Law on “Captive Audience” Meetings
The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) has had a longstanding rule which allows employers to hold mandatory meetings where they can discuss unionization with their employees. Recently, these “captive audience” meetings have come under attack. At the federal level, the General Counsel of the NLRB issued a memo in April 2022 expressing opposition to captive audience meetings as a violation of the NLRA. There has also been a trend of state legislation impacting captive audience meetings, including in Maine, Oregon, Connecticut, and Minnesota. Recently, New York has joined this trend.
On September 6, 2023, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law a bill amending section 201-d of the New York Labor Law. The amended law prohibits employers from taking adverse action against an employee who refuses to attend an employer-sponsored meeting that has the primary purpose of communicating the employer’s opinion on religious or political matters, including the decision to support or join a labor organization. However, the law does not prohibit:
An employer or its agent, representative or designee from communicating to its employees any information that the employer is required by law to communicate;
An employer or its agent, representative or designee from communicating to its employees any information that is necessary for such employees to perform their job duties;
An institution of higher education, or any agent, representative or designee of such institution, from meeting with or participating in any communications with its employees that are part of coursework, any symposia or an academic program at such institution;
Causal conversations between employees or between an employee and an agent, representative or designee of an employer, provided participation in such conversations is not required; or
A requirement limited to the employer's managerial and supervisory employees.
The amended law also requires that employers post a notice in all their workplaces notifying employees of their rights under this law. Employers should take immediate steps to post these notices as the law went into effect upon signing.
Notably, in other states these new laws restricting “captive audience” meetings are facing legal challenges. The Connecticut law is currently being challenged by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for conflicting with the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution and Section 8(c) of the NLRA. The resolution of that case could impact the legality of other state laws concerning “captive audience” meetings. In the interim, employers may want to consider training their managers on this issue, specifically, that any meetings touching on religion, politics, and/or labor organizations must be voluntary and that there is documentation evidencing the voluntariness of such meetings. Employers who have questions on New York’s amended law or their policies concerning employer-sponsored meetings should contact Caroline Secola at csecola@fglawllc.com or any attorney at the firm.
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