Charitable contributions

MarilynR

This question concerns charitable contributations and solicitations at work.
Our CEO granted an interview to somone who was solicitating for a charitable organization. This person also happens to be married to one of our employees. CEO is impressed with the organization and wants to send a company wide email encouraging everyone to donate some money as well as a statement that the company will match the total funds collected. One Note: We have always allowed employees to sell Girlscout cookies, etc at work, and we do not have issues with this. Taking work time is not an issue. The CEO (or another manager) solicitating is. Could this set a precedence? Can anyone think of a LEGAL reason for this to be discouraged?

Down_the_Middle

You apparently do not have a SOLICITATION/DISTRIBUTION policy which would govern who, what, how and where employees can be solicited for financial or in-kind support. Without knowing the size of your organization and important particulars, this type of activity could compell you to allow union organizers to solicit your employees in the exact manner in which they are about to be solicited. You cannot pick and choose who can solicit your employees w/o the risk of a labor union filing and unfair labor practice and causing all sorts of problems. The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)is probably the strongest federal statute to discourage what you're planning to do. I think I'd chat with your local labor/employment counsel to confirm the risks of what your CEO is planning to do.

MarilynR

You make a good point. We are a very small engineering / manufacturing firm - 32 employees total. I agree that this is something that needs to be addressed in our employee handbook.

PMI

Down the Middle makes an excellent point about the legality & union issue. But looking at it from a common sense prospective, I think it is innappropriate for a CEO to issue a communication of this sort to employees. I'd be concerned that employees would feel pressured to contribute. A poster in a public area (ie, break room), produced by HR (or the soliciting employee) is a more neutral vehicle for communicating info about charitable giving. I also agree that it is critical that you address this issue in your handbook. If there's no published policy to follow, you could be opening a can of worms.