Gov. Ned Lamont on Tuesday signed a bill that bans “captive audience meetings,” which are mandatory meetings held by an employer during work hours that unions say are used to thwart organizing.
Senate Bill 163, “An Act Protecting Employee Freedom of Speech and Conscience,” is seen by supporters as an expansion of free-speech rights in the workplace. It was opposed by the Connecticut Business & Industry Association, which called it an “unconstitutional attempt to restrict workplace communications and an infringement on employer free speech rights.”
The bill won final approval from the General Assembly and is set to go into effect July 1.
The law comes at a time when the country is seeing an unprecedented surge of union organizing, including two Starbucks stores in Connecticut, which recently filed petitions with federal labor officials.
This bill “prohibits employers … from disciplining or discharging (i.e., penalizing) an employee or threatening to do so because the employee refused to attend employer-sponsored meetings, listen to speech, or view communications primarily intended to convey the employer’s opinion about religious or political matters.”
Previously, it was illegal for an employer to discipline or discharge an employee for protected speech; however, it’s now illegal for an employer to merely threaten to subject an employee to discharge or discipline.
