No-solicitation policy

Aaron H · August 2001

I am setting up a no-solicitation/distribution policy. I am interning at a company in the construction industry with about 65 crew members. Any suggestions on what to include or what to leave out?

Thanks, Aaron

Gillian · August 2001

The background in this area is more than just trying to stop a bunch of unwanted solicitations or product sales at work. The real issue is unions. If solicitations are allowed in the workplace then a union, when told that it cannot solicit for union membership at work, can file an unfair labor practice against the employer, and will probably win, based on the fact that the company is discriminating against the union. No-solicitation policies are a protection so that inside union solicitation can be stopped. In reality, of course, many companies have no-solicitation policies but that does not stop the football and baseball pools, avon and girl-scout cookie sales etc. This, in effect, cancels out the real purpose behind the policy. Even so, the policy is a good one to have, because if there is a union effort, the policy provides a little bit of breathing room that your labor attorney will use for the company benefit, even though it may have lost most of its oomph.

Your policy should prohibit all solicitation and sales of anything except during break times and in non-working areas (for a construction company I don't where that is). A minimal amount of charitable solicitation is allowable under the regulations but this area should be subject to management approval.

Aaron H · August 2001

Thanks Gillian,
I know that the purpose is to help keep unions at bay, I guess my question was more regarding how can I set it up so it doesn't make management sound like we just wrote up a policy for the heck of it. We don't really have a problem with employee solicitation, the reason I wanted to have the policy is the union factor. I wrote that the policy is meant to keep posting areas less cluttered so that important info for the crew is more easily visible. Any thoughts?

Thanks, Aaron

pv25 · August 2001

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 08-15-01 AT 01:11PM (CST)[/font][p]This link might help:

[link:www.elinfonet.com/pol_output.php?pnc=152|Links to Soliciation Policies]

Good Luck.

Gillian · August 2001

"No solicitation" policies are so common that I don't think that you should worry too much about it looking like management wrote it just for the heck of it. Any rationale connected to safety, housekeeping etc. seems like valid reasons, although a question for an attorney would be "if one states that these are reasons for the policy does that then invalididate it for the real purpose - intereactions with unions?". Most policies that I have read are pretty cut and dried - a writing which contains the prohibitions with little explanation.

No-solicitation policy

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