Headnote for 2697M, 401.05 Union Activity During Nonworking Time or in Nonworking Areas - California Public Employment Relations Board

EMPLOYER INTERFERENCE, RESTRAINT, COERCION, EMPLOYER CONDUCT AFFECTING ORGANIZING, UNION ACCESS; SOLICITATION, AND OTHER UNION RIGHTS – Union Activity During Nonworking Time or in Nonworking Areas

Single Topic for Decision 2697M

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401.00000 – EMPLOYER INTERFERENCE, RESTRAINT, COERCION, EMPLOYER CONDUCT AFFECTING ORGANIZING, UNION ACCESS; SOLICITATION, AND OTHER UNION RIGHTS
401.05000 – Union Activity During Nonworking Time or in Nonworking Areas

To be lawful, a rule must not only be nondiscriminatory in language and in application, it must also permit protected activities in nonwork times and nonwork areas. In drafting a prohibition that carves out nonwork time and nonwork areas, an employer should refrain from using vague or overbroad phrases such as “during the workday” or “off school property,” which fail to note explicitly that the prohibition does not apply in those places and times in which the employer tolerates other nonofficial activities, such as during breaks. (Petaluma City Elementary School District/Joint Union High School District (2016) PERB Decision No. 2485, pp. 44-47.)