Sadly, daveschroeder also misread the NLRB decision. He says the ruling is limited to off-duty, in-uniform fraternization -- not so. The NLRB said in-uniform solicitation can be prohibitted. The term "solicitation" has a particualr meaning in labor law that doesn't relate to dating or fraternization.
The ruling also separately said that a rule prohibiting off-duty fraternization, dating or becoming too friendly with employees of a client company did not violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Thus, if you are an employee of an IT subcontractor, your employer can prohibit you from socializing with the contracting company's employees without violating the NLRA. The NLRB did not limit this to circumstances where uniforms are worn.
If you depend on the benevolence of your pointy-haired boss and believe in the superiority of your solitary bargaining power over collective action then you deserve to suffer the consequences of that naivete. Some day you will face the fact that you are merely a cog in the machinery called the labor market. Some highly educated tech worker in China or India will end up doing your job for pennies while you agree to work 80 hours a week without any protection from the big evil government. Good luck!
I wonder whether you actually have an enforceable employment contract (very few professional do). Those promises that bosses make are often not enforceable. More likely, you are an at will employee whose salary is subject to unilateral changes with your only recourse being resignation. And even if you have a writted, enforceable contract, it is the big bad government that makes it enforceable.
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Sadly, daveschroeder also misread the NLRB decision. He says the ruling is limited to off-duty, in-uniform fraternization -- not so. The NLRB said in-uniform solicitation can be prohibitted. The term "solicitation" has a particualr meaning in labor law that doesn't relate to dating or fraternization.
The ruling also separately said that a rule prohibiting off-duty fraternization, dating or becoming too friendly with employees of a client company did not violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Thus, if you are an employee of an IT subcontractor, your employer can prohibit you from socializing with the contracting company's employees without violating the NLRA. The NLRB did not limit this to circumstances where uniforms are worn.
If you depend on the benevolence of your pointy-haired boss and believe in the superiority of your solitary bargaining power over collective action then you deserve to suffer the consequences of that naivete. Some day you will face the fact that you are merely a cog in the machinery called the labor market. Some highly educated tech worker in China or India will end up doing your job for pennies while you agree to work 80 hours a week without any protection from the big evil government. Good luck! I wonder whether you actually have an enforceable employment contract (very few professional do). Those promises that bosses make are often not enforceable. More likely, you are an at will employee whose salary is subject to unilateral changes with your only recourse being resignation. And even if you have a writted, enforceable contract, it is the big bad government that makes it enforceable.