You might think that who you hang out with when you're off the job is not the boss's business, but the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently upheld a very restrictive anti-fraternization policy, which made it against the rules for a security company's guards to fraternize on duty or off duty, date, or become overly friendly with the client's employees or with co-employees.
While the policy was ostensibly enacted for safety and security purposes, its chilling effect goes much further. The policy was challenged by the guard's union, who argued that this kind of provision discouraged workers from exercising their right to organize unions and engage in concerted activity. (For more information, see our site's retaliation for union activity page.) After all, if you can't get overly friendly with your fellow employees, or spend time with them away from the workplace, chances are good that you're not going to feel safe complaining about work to someone you don't know very well, and certainly aren't going to take the chance of talking about banding together to join a union.
While the NLRB's ruling says that we believe that employees would reasonably understand the rule to prohibit only personal entanglements, rather than activity protected by the Act, it's still unclear which personal entanglements would violate the company's policy. If more employers enact similar policies preventing fraternization, it is likely that there will be more lawsuits brought by workers fired for violating them, given the difficulty of defining what kind of relationships violate such policies and the possibility that they inhibit union and other collective activity. If you are subject to a no-fraternization policy, and have questions about what it means, you may want to consult with a local attorney to determine whether the policy appears to violate any laws.