Employee personal Facebook use...
Discussion
An employee of a friend's business recently expressed some views on their personal Facebook page which are quite unpopular (to do with a recent crisis in Europe that is ongoing). They are connected on Facebook with many of the customers (in a small town).
The post was made before the weekend and has since been removed and received quite a bit of backlash (according to other employees who did see it before being removed).
How does an employer stand from a legal point of view (if any) to handle this sort of thing? I would imagine the employees are free to do as they please in their own time, on their personal account.
I ask in this case because this particular employee has their place of work listed on their Facebook page, and has worked there for more than 12M...
The post was made before the weekend and has since been removed and received quite a bit of backlash (according to other employees who did see it before being removed).
How does an employer stand from a legal point of view (if any) to handle this sort of thing? I would imagine the employees are free to do as they please in their own time, on their personal account.
I ask in this case because this particular employee has their place of work listed on their Facebook page, and has worked there for more than 12M...
If it were my employee I would have a quite word about being careful what you say as people may use it against you as these things can be kept for all to see forever.
At the end of the day it's no different from ranting in the pub over issues and customer being within earshot, except people can screen print it and save it.
At the end of the day it's no different from ranting in the pub over issues and customer being within earshot, except people can screen print it and save it.
If they have customers of yours on their FB feed I suppose it depends on how close they are and if anything she writes is likely to affect orders and doing business in the future but as above, perhaps a wee word that while you don't want to come across as controlling what she writes you'd appreciate it if she could at least consider what she's writing as there are customers of yours on her FB feed and what she writes can and perhaps will have an affect on the business.
Does the employer have a section on use of social media in their employment contracts?
If they don't - they really should.
This is becoming a very serious and problematic area for both employers and employees. Only a few months ago we had a very interesting thread on here on the massive mess that NOT having such a policy can have and how corrosive and dangerous ignoring this issue can be.
If they don't - they really should.
This is becoming a very serious and problematic area for both employers and employees. Only a few months ago we had a very interesting thread on here on the massive mess that NOT having such a policy can have and how corrosive and dangerous ignoring this issue can be.
williamp said:
Yes. Make sure the staff handbook (easier to update then ontracts) - includes social media. We were not lowed to mention our company, nor comment on company news, views etc
And it doesnt appear that in the OP the company has been mentioned or commented on. We have a fairly right wing techie girl working for us, she goes on marches and stuff. She's good at her job. She's been in the paper photographed with particular slogans on a flag that probably arent the same views shared by everyone. The boss said if she wants to do that outside of work, and it's legal, crack on. She's very welcome to an opinion that's self created and expressed, anyone internal or external who has issues with it can email him
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