What workplace speech is protected?

"Can employees really say what they want about what they believe when they’re at work? After all, it is a free country, right? The answer is yes. And no,” writes Emily Franchi in the November/December issue of CPA Voice.

Protecting speech is a hot button topic in workplaces across the country, and it’s more complicated than most professionals might assume. Franchi explains that the First Amendment does protect a person’s freedom of speech, but the protection is to prevent the government from suppressing a person’s right of speech or restricting what a person can or cannot say in a public forum. Unless the government is your place of employment, the First Amendment does not apply the same way in a work environment.

“An employer does have the right to ask employees to focus on their work while in the office and to refrain from discussion that could lead to an emotionally charged conversation,” Franchi says. “Employers should be careful, though, to apply the rules uniformly and not favor one employee and his or her opinion or beliefs over another.”

Read the article now to learn more about recent free speech cases and how the National Labor Relations Act protects workplace conversations.

Don’t miss this convenient, self-study CPE

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Every edition includes a 12-question self-assessment exam covering content from that issue. Receive a grade of 75% or higher and you’ll earn one hour of CPE credit in specialized knowledge.

Best of all, you can take the exam when and where it’s convenient for you, either online or by mail. Exams remain available online – and may be completed for CPE – through the same month of the following year.

November/December 2018 exam