NLRB Rules Overbroad Confidentiality Policy is Unlawful

Employer's confidentiality policy stated in part that "all information gathered by, retained or generated by the Company is confidential. There shall be no disclosure of any confidential information to anyone outside the Company without the appropriate authorization." Finding the rule unlawfully overbroad, the National Labor Relations Board noted that while the rule does not explicitly target wages and working conditions, the rule’s definition of confidential information is so broad as to easily be interpreted to include such information. Employee wage rates, employment policies, handbook rules, and virtually all other terms and conditions of employment are information that is "generated" and "retained" by the Employer, and a confidentiality rule encompassing such information violates the National Labor Relations Act.