Compliance Conundrum:
What States Have Captive Audience Laws and What Should Employers Do to Be Compliant?

One of the latest trends in employment law is prohibitions on captive audience meetings in the workplace. These laws are set up to prevent employers from requiring employee attendance at meetings where the purpose of the meeting is to share the employer’s opinion about religious or political matters, including unionization. 

What Are Captive Audience Laws?

Captive audience laws prohibit employers from requiring employees to attend meetings where the employer discusses its views on religious, political, or union-related matters. These laws are designed to protect employees from being compelled to listen to such opinions as a condition of their employment.

The Historical Role of Captive Audience Meetings in Union Election Campaigns

Employers have been permitted for decades to hold captive audience meetings during union election campaigns to deliver to employees their views on unionization under the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision in Babcock v. Wilcox Co., 77 NLRB 577 (1948). Such meetings have been allowed as long as the employer did not threaten, punish, or promise benefits to employees. These meetings provided crucial employer-employee communications during an organizing campaign since union communications with employees are largely unregulated.  

What States Have Captive Audience Laws?

However, a growing number of states have passed laws banning mandatory or captive audience meetings.

There are now eight states that have captive audience laws prohibiting employers from requiring attendance at these mandatory meetings:  CT, IL (which takes effect 1/1/25), ME, MN, NY, OR, WA, and VT.

It is likely we will see more states passing these types of laws in the future. Currently, there is proposed legislation for captive audience bans in the workplace in several states including AK, CA, CO, MD, MA, and RI. 

Navigating the Nuances of Captive Audience Laws

Employers subject to these state laws should understand the nuance in each state’s law. They are all a little different. Generally, these laws prohibit employers from taking adverse employment action against employees for refusing to attend or participate in employer-sponsored meetings or otherwise requiring them to attend, listen to, or receive communications regarding employer opinions on religious or political matters.  

Political matters under these laws are defined broadly and generally include discussions about the decision to join or support any political party or political, civic, community, fraternal, or labor organization. The definition of religious matters is also expansive.