Illinois has banned company meetings used to try to persuade workers that they’d be better off without unions—so-called captive-audience meetings—effective Jan. 1, 2025.
The Illinois law mirrors California’s SB 399, which would also prevent captive-audience meetings regarding the employer’s opinion about religious or political matters.
“While SB 399 seeks to advance our shared goal of addressing workplace incivility, we are concerned that the legislation, in its current form, would have the unintended consequence of stifling conversations that promote civility,” wrote Emily M. Dickens, SHRM chief of staff, head of government affairs, and corporate secretary, and Michael S. Kalt, government affairs director for CalSHRM. “The overly broad language used in the bill pertaining to ‘employer-sponsored meetings’ and ‘participating in, receiving, or listening to any communications’ creates significant uncertainty for California employers that seek to create open, civil dialogues with employees.”
We’ve gathered articles on the news from SHRM Online and other outlets.
Passing the measure in Illinois had been a chief priority for the AFL-CIO. “People go to work to work, not to be indoctrinated,” Illinois AFL-CIO President Tim Drea said in a statement.
However, when the state house debated the measure in May, Rep. Dan Ugaste said federal law already protected workers from reprisal for their union affiliation and viewpoints.
(WTTW)
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