Swastikas and Power To the People Coming to Your Company Uniforms?

Last week the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that a Home Depot employee who had written “BLM” on his work apron in 2021, thus breaking the company dress code, had a right to this as political protection, and was awarded reinstatement with back pay.

In essence, this ruling blocks employers from setting ground rules for political agitation - even for causes that have nothing to do with work.

The ruling according to a Wall street Journal editorial, “widened the scope of protected political action at work with no obvious limiting principle.”

Up until this ruling, employers had wide authority to limit political speech or advocacy, and had never stopped employers from regulation of speech with no connection to workplace conditions. This means one of your current or future employees could decide to add - as an example - a swastika, or a political issue button, or other such statements on their uniform, or other clothing or equipment- and you as the employer would have no ability to stop such behavior.

Undoubtedly, Home Depot will fight this ruling in federal court, and hopefully saner rulings will curb this latest NLRB power-grab. In the meantime, this ruling is in effect and will result in employers being limited as to how they can implement their written policies, regarding clothing and company equipment.

 For additional assistance or comments, contact Sigma6 HR Benefits at 502 292-2980 or support@sigma6hr.com.