The increased use of portable electronic devices in the workplace and the popularity of social media pose unique challenges for health care employers, particularly when the requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) conflict with the NLRB’s position on policies that could infringe upon an employee’s right to engage in
Social Media & the Workplace
Federal Court Upholds Discharge of Employee on Medical Leave Who Shared Vacation Photos on Facebook

Everyone has “friends” who overshare their daily activities on Facebook. Rodney Jones’ oversharing cost him his job. Jones worked as an activity director for Accentia Health, a long–term care nursing facility. Accentia Health granted Jones 12 weeks of FMLA and an additional 30 days of non-FMLA leave in connection…
NLRB Issues Critical Guidance On Employer Handbooks, Rules and Policies, Including “Approved” Language
My colleagues Steven M. Swirsky and Adam C. Abrahms published a Management Memo blog post that will be of interest to many of our readers: “NLRB Issues Critical Guidance on Employer Handbooks, Rules and Policies Including “Approved” Language.”
Following is an excerpt:
On March 18, 2015, NLRB General Counsel Richard F. Griffin, Jr.
NLRB Rules That Employees Can Use Company Email for Union Organizing – Affects All Employers
Our colleague Steven Swirsky at Epstein Becker Green wrote an advisory on an NLRB ruling that affects all employers: “NLRB Holds That Employees Have the Right to Use Company Email Systems for Union Organizing – Union and Non-Union Employers Are All Affected.” Following is an excerpt:
In its Purple Communications, Inc., decision, the National Labor…
Complimentary Webinar – Eye on Ebola: Issues Impacting Health Care Providers
WHEN: November 17, 2014
TIME: 2:00pm – 3:30pm EST
To register for this webinar, please click here.
Please join us for a complimentary webinar addressing the professional and business challenges encountered by health care providers dealing with Ebola and other infectious diseases. This webinar will offer a clinical overview as well as a review…
Trade Secret, Proprietary Information, & Regulatory Requirements Concerns Contribute To Veto of New Jersey Social Media Bill
By: James P. Flynn
The New Jersey Legislature was overwhelmingly in favor of a measure that would have barred employers from obtaining social media IDs and other social media related information from employees and applicants. Click here for A2878 as passed. But Governor Chris Christie vetoed A-2878 because it would frustrate a business’s ability “to…
NLRB Administrative Law Judge Finds Medical Center’s Technology Usage Policies Violated Employees Rights Under the National Labor Relations Act
by: Steven M. Swirsky and D. Martin Stanberry
An NLRB Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) has found that two computer usage policies of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (“UPMC”) violated the National Labor Relations Act (“Act”) because they had an unreasonable tendency to chill employee activities, including union organizing and employee discussions about terms and conditions…
April 2013 Take 5 Newsletter: Five Recent Actions Employers Should Consider
The April 2013 issue of Take 5 was written by David W. Garland, Chair of Epstein Becker Green’s Labor and Employment Steering Committee and a Member of the Firm in the New York and Newark offices.
In it, he summarizes five recent labor and employment actions that employers should consider:
- EEOC Releases Letter
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NLRB Continues Pro-Union Agenda
It is no secret that the National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”) is engaged in a purposeful and partisan attempt to issue rules and decisions that benefit unions, often to the detriment of employers, including attempts by the Board to assert itself into non-union workplaces. The decisions that the Board has issued over…
Take Five – Labor and Employment Views You Can Use

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