Should you Post That?
Should you Post That?
Literally everyone and their grandma have become involved in some sort of social media site or app. The most popular of these being Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram, while others like Twitter are still prominent in the social media circle. They post anything from “Having coffee at Starbucks” to “Look at my grandchild playing” to “Lizard people are running the government”. While social media is a great way to stay connected to a large number of friends, celebrities, and companies, it does come with certain problems. Over the years, numerous stories have popped up about employees getting fired because of what they posted on their Facebook. Did their employer have a right to fire them for something they wrote on their social media accounts? In some instances, they had every right, in other instances they had no right at all.
Some would argue “but I have the freedom of speech!”, well not exactly. The first amendment is often misunderstood as having total freedom from the consequences of what you say. In reality, it gives you the freedom to express yourself without the government censoring you. It does not protect you from private businesses or individuals. Especially when you consider that Florida is an “at-will” state, meaning a business owner can terminate your employment without warning or reason, with few exceptions.
If you are a business owner, it is important that you learn the exceptions to the rules, just in case you are placed in a situation where an employee might be eligible for termination over a social media post. It is almost important for employees to know these exceptions, so they can keep their posting in line with the company. The best way to do this is to create a page or section in your employee handbook that both sides can reference. To help build a dependable employee handbook, contact Vision H.R. and get a free quote. To better understand what you can and cannot fire an employee for posting, continue reading.
What You Can Fire For
-Discrimination: An employee represents their company. If you’re employee posts discriminatory material, including anything that promotes racism, sexism, homophobia, or intolerance, they can be terminated from their employment.
-Release of Customer Information: Customer information is confidential, even just being in your building no one’s business. The most common instance of this happening is when servers are fired for complaining about tips on social media, sometimes even posting photos of receipts. Other instances include a doctor who posted about a patient. Even though they did not use their name, the patient’s friends were able to recognize who the post was about.
-Contradictions: Did one of your employees post a photo of them partying the night away, and call in sick the next day, saying they have some 24 hour bug? Worse, did they call in sick, then post pics of them partying the night away? Some employees forget they added their boss as a friend on Facebook, and get caught in their little lie. This can show a lack of dedication to their employment, and to their coworkers.
-Posts Admitting Poor Work Ethics: I am sure most of us have seen someone on social media posting about “ugh, I’m so bored at work”. Now admittedly, some days at work are boring. Whenever there is harsh weather, or an event in a different part of town, business might migrate away from you for a day or two, and you can only clean the store up so many times while waiting. When there is business however, or you have an important assignment, and post about how bored you are, you are showing you are neglecting your work. Posts about leaving work early, horseplay in the workplace, or anything else that goes against regulations or proper work ethics can be ground for termination.
-Posting Trade Secrets: Remember when Martha Stewart became the source of several internet memes when she was caught doing insider trading? Yeah, employees can’t do anything like that either. If they post information that is not intended for customers to know, they could be subject to termination.
-Illegal Activities: In many states, marijuana is illegal in every sense of the word. Yet, people still post about how they plan on getting high with friends. Along with being illegal, if your employee handbook states a zero tolerance stance on drug abuse, they have two reasons for termination of employment.
What You Can Not Fire For
-Complaints About Work Conditions: If an employee complains about unsafe, or unprofessional work conditions, they are protected from consequence by the employer.
-Whistleblowers: No, we are not talking about people who expose government secrets, rather, someone who admits their company is involved in illegal activities. If you are involved in some form of illegal activity, and an employee takes it to Facebook, they are protected from you. Hopefully that is not a problem.
-Other Side of Discrimination: We spoke about employees displaying signs of discrimination, this rule also goes for the employer. Showing any signs of discrimination against someone of a different race, religion, culture, and thanks to an ordinance passed in Volusia County, of a different sexuality, can lead to a heavy lawsuit and very bad publicity. This includes posting inappropriate material online.
-Political Views: Right now, America is highly divided with the 2016 elections coming up. Both sides love their candidate and for the most part hold deep resentment for the opposing candidate. While it is okay to talk about politics in the workplace, don’t let it get out of hand, and do not terminate employment because someone has the opposing candidates face all over their Facebook.
With great power, comes great responsibility, and while we don’t think that was meant for social media, it doesn’t make it any less true. Employees and employers alike need to be wise about what they post on websites like Facebook and Instagram. It can take years of training and education to get a job, or to build a business, and one post to take it all away. Like many things, though, the best way to stop this from happening is to be proactive about it. Have Vision H.R. create a employee handbook that details all the policies and regulations related to working for you, including social media usage. Don’t be afraid to place informational material in break rooms or offices that outline posting so social media. Much like the terms and conditions to any website, many people click they have read and accept them without ever reading as much as the first sentence. By placing informational material around the workplace, you give them another chance to learn the information listed in the handbook. Just be careful not to be too overbearing about it, or you might create a sense of distrust in your employees. They should be encouraged to be smart about what they post, not paranoid and overly cautious. If an employee posts something inappropriate, a coworker or customer will bring it to your attention. Not to mention you would be on Facebook all day trying to keep up with how often some people post.
For more assistance with things like employee handbooks and management training, you can visit www.Vision-hr.com to see a list of our services and to get a free quote for your business. Vision H.R. is a trusted Daytona Beach Payroll Services and Human Resource Management company that helps clients from Oak Hill all the way to Palm Coast with items like payroll management, employee benefit packages, business insurance, and other crucial business areas. We think you will be so satisfied with our services, you might just post about them on Facebook.
