Takeaways For Facebook Troubles

Facebook has become an ever-prevalent social media website that can be a talent leaders’ best friend and worst nightmare. There have been many arguments for and against allowing Facebook access to employees during the work day. In a recent article from Ragan.com‘s Eric B. Meyer, the National Labor Relations Boards supported one employer that fired an employee for Facebook-related reasons. The NLRB issued a press release in regards to its’ decision to support the situation (click here to read the press release).

In short summary, an employee of a BMW car dealership was fired for posting not-so-nice things about his work on his personal Facebook page. As social media sites continue to expand and become more popular, there have to be some company-wide regulations about what an employee can and cannot post about their employer on the Internet. When these regulations have been disregarded, action must be taken. Implementing these restrictions on employees however, was found to violate the National Labor Relations Act.

So what does this mean for your organization? What can you do to make sure Facebook and other social media sites don’t cause big problems? Here are three things to keep in mind:

1. The board’s decision reinforces an important point driven home in the previous guidance employers received from the Board’s Acting General Counsel.

2. If you intend to terminate a complainer, investigate first to determine whether the complainer was acting alone.

3. Another point worth noting is that the employer here was a non-union employer.

What are your organizational policies in regards to social media access during work hours? Whatever methods you have in place, be sure that your employees clearly understand them and the repercussions for not complying. To read more about the tips above, click here to read the full article.

 

 

 

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