Well if we look at it one way, if you were a lawyer and trying to become a partner in a new company and they look on face book and see that your really a family person, should they be allowed to think we can't hire this person cause they family person and can't give it all to us? or we as the possible partner not want to work for a company that uses that against you? I have gone back and forth on this and question many on some questions to think about.
1. What if you find your kids teacher on there and she is partying on the weekends? Do we say she can not be a good teacher cause she drinks?
2. Same scenario- What if your teacher has a side job selling the home based business "sex toys" and she has her attachment for the company website on there? Should we use that and say we shouldn't have our kids go there anymore?
We could go back and forth on how we think and react to stuff. But, what I found very interesting was a article in Monster called What to do When an Employee Violates your Social Media Policy written by
Emily Bennigton. She points out that employers need to remember they must follow the National Labor Relations Act and some states will prohibit employers from being able to disciplining a employee from having a off duty. She states; "While many of the off-duty conduct laws were drafted to address an employee's use of tobacco off the work sites, many of them written broadly enough to encompass use of social media, blogging, or other online activities. In addition, the NLRA protects an employee's right to engage in "concerted activities " regarding the terms and conditions of employment.
So this brings me to the questions I will be researching on have any companies been sued for using social media findings against there employees? If there is something that is covered with the National Labor Relations Act, shouldn't everyone have to use that ?
I bring a personal questions about myself? I work full time for a company that is owned and ran by Mormons out of Utah, not that is bad or anything just trying to have you put a visual . So I own a event planning business and throw a lot of parties which are posted on face book to promote my business. Now they don't drink or party in a sense , should they fire me if they saw my face book, twitter and Lind en even?
You have a great topic to think about. I personally think looking at somebody's Facebook is not necessary and goes against your privacy. I also think that if a teacher has a part time job selling sex toys as you mentioned, it would be weird to know but also if that person is a great teacher, her part time job shouldn't define her as a teacher. I think that employees should stick to reviewing resumes and leaving the social media out of the final decision on hiring someone. I personally leave all my social media on private so that no one except my friends could see what's going on in my life. I also don't add my bosses on Facebook either just because I do know people who have been fired for the things they have put on Facebook.
ReplyDeleteI think that employers sometimes have ways of getting around privacy settings. Many people put their Facebook or parts of their FB profile as "private" (me too), but I think this offers a false sense of security.
DeleteBesides the Monster article, did you consult another source for this third post? If so, what was the source? What questions did it raise for you? And how would you compare/contrast that source to the one from Monster?
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you brought up the National Labor Relations Act, as this adds a more academic element to your inquiry. Maybe you need to do more research in this direction? I've had students research similar questions in the past and find plenty of peer-reviewed scholarly articles through the library databases.