Tip Tuesday! Employee handbooks: NLRB updates what you can and can’t include

By Jared Bilski

The National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) General Counsel has released a massive report on employee handbooks (and other relevant policies), so HR pros should probably take a very close look at their own handbooks and compare those documents to the feds’ new guide.
Specifically, the report outlined handbook content that’s lawful – and that which is likely to violate the National Labor Relations Act.

Both union and non-union workplaces

The report, which includes examples and recent NLRB decisions, applies to all employers regardless of whether or not they have union-represented employees.
In general, when handbooks contain vague or overly broad statements, employers are setting themselves up for problems.

Here are some of the major handbook areas listed in the report as well as specific examples of what the NLRB considers overly broad (i.e., potentially illegal) and what it will likely find lawful, courtesy of the folks at The Employer Handbook:
1. Confidentiality rules. The feds make it very clear that employees have a right to discuss “wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment.”

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