At the Connecticut Bar Association’s Annual Meeting, NLRB Boston Regional Director Jonathan Kreisberg gave a thorough update on the agenda of the federal agency.

While most of the discussion focused on the latest pronouncements of social media, during my presentation on Vine and other photo/video social media sites, he also mentioned something that hasn’t often been discussed as well: employee use of smartphones to take pictures or videos in the workplace.

Indeed, Kreisberg said that he believed that there were a couple of cases winding their way through the agency now on whether such use was permissible or whether employers could restrict such use.  He said he would not be surprised if the Board upheld most employee use of videos or photos as a protected concerted activity or other protected action.

With Vine and now Instagram as very popular photo and video sharing apps on smartphones, the NLRB’s position could have a significant influence on employer’s attempts to rein such conduct in.

Will this be the next frontier for the agency? Stay tuned.