As has been widely reported in the media, the Occupy Wall Street movement was evicted from Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan. And in cities around the country, police have been removing occupiers from their encampments.

Whether these police actions are having a real impact on the movement or just forcing it to “go mobile” remains to be seen. Occupy Miami protestors marched down Biscayne Boulevard during the middle of the day on Nov. 17 and then created traffic gridlock during the evening rush hour.

It is clear that the level of social despondency in America is rising. Continuing economic malaise, persistently high unemployment and growing disparities between rich and poor have left many people “mad as hell.”

What if the Occupy Movement showed up at your workplace? Or what if your workers began a protest or joined in with the Occupiers who showed up at your business’ front door?

If you think this is a remote possibility in South Florida, take a look at a recent YouTube video (http://tinyurl.com/7w3g39a) of some retail store workers in England, who broke into a flash mob of song and dance at work protesting their wages and working conditions.

Private sector employers and business owners may be surprised to learn that employees who rise up in protest about wages, benefits and working conditions at their workplace may be protected by federal law. When non-employee protestors show up at a place of business, the owner should call the police. The legal system can then sort out the free speech rights of the protestors balanced against the business owners’ property rights in conducting their business. As a general proposition, non-employee protestors are considered trespassers and become subject to arrest when they remain where they are not wanted.

Employees who are already at work, however, are not considered trespassers. Because the companies they work for are privately owned, employees have no constitutionally protected right to free speech in the workplace. At the same time, an employer that simply fires any protesting employee as a knee jerk reaction should know that those terminated employees may have rights under the National Labor Relations Act even though no union is in place.

Under the National Labor Relations Act, employers generally cannot legally discipline these employees because they are engaging in what is called “protected concerted activity.” Although such activity can lose its “protection” at times when employees engage in egregious misconduct – the National Labor Relations Board does not consider a group of employees’ going on “strike” for a day or two to constitute such misconduct.

If economic conditions do not significantly improve and employees begin acting out in protest, businesses should be prepared to respond to novel forms of protest like sit-downs, flash mobs, posting on Facebook, Twitter and other social media, handbilling or picketing.

Mark Neuberger and John Douglas represent management in all types of labor and employment law matters for Foley & Lardner LLP. Neuberger is based in Miami; Douglas is a partner in Foley’s San Francisco office.