Know Your Rights

Federal law gives us, all eligible employees, the freedom to unite and build a better future at the Natural History Museum and La Brea Tar Pits & Museum. We have a legally protected right to organize a union, which includes the following activities: 

• discussing workplace issues and improving the NHMLAC during work hours (the same way conversations on other topics are allowed) 
• distributing union-related literature during non-work hours (i.e., during break time, before/after work hours, on your day off) 
• wearing union buttons and lanyards 

It is unlawful for an employer (such as supervisors, senior managers, or the board of directors) to interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees seeking to organize or join a union. They cannot: 

• tell employees that they will fire or punish them if they engage in a union activity 
• lay off or terminate any employee for union activity 
• threaten employees in an attempt to influence their vote on the union 
• promise or withhold wage increases to keep employees from forming a union 
• prohibit union activists from asking others to join the union during non-work hours 
• ask employees how they intend to vote on the union 
• ask employees whether they have signed a union card 
• ask employees about confidential union matters such as union strategies, meetings, etc. 
• create/change work assignments to punish an employee because of their union activity 
• tell employees that existing benefits will be discontinued if the company is unionized 
• say unionization will force the employer to lay off employees 
• say unionization will take away vacations, benefits, and arrangements presently in effect 
• promise employees promotions, raises, or other benefits if they vote no for a union 
• tell employees that because of the union, the regular pay raises will be stopped/delayed 

Employees are protected by Government Code Sections 3550 and 3553, which require public employers to remain neutral and permit employees' free choice in exercising statutory rights related to union membership. 

It is unlawful for public employers to “deter or discourage public employees or applicants to be public employees from becoming or remaining members of an employee organization, or from authorizing representation by an employee organization, or from authorizing dues or fee deductions to an employee organization."

Employers are required to stay completely neutral and refrain from saying anything to discourage employees from unionizing.

Additionally, the California Worker Freedom from Employer Intimidation Act, which went into effect on January 1, 2025, bans mandatory "captive audience" meetings where an employer compels employees to attend employer-mandated meetings to discuss matters unrelated to work, including the decision to join or support a labor union. The law also prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who decline to attend such meetings.