Almost everyone has a social media account these days. Whether you’re a loyal Facebook fan or write a regular blog, you need to know how your social media activity affects your job.
First Amendment Rights
According to your First Amendment rights, you have freedom of speech. This basic right protects you from the government, but it does not offer you protection from a private company. Your employer has the right to tell you what you can and cannot post on your social media accounts and to discipline or fire you based on your online activity.
Legal Rights
You’ll need to turn to laws other than the Constitution to defend what you say online. When you post to your blog or on social media, consider these laws that some states have passed.
- Off-duty conduct laws protect you from being fired for something you do on your own time.
- Protections for political views allow you to express your political views and affiliation.
- Concerted activity protections fall under the National Labor Relations Act. You and your coworkers can communicate about your job or working conditions online or offline and join together to express your concerns to your boss.
- Prohibitions on retaliation laws assist you when your rights are violated because you post about an incident of discrimination, harassment, wage violation or other illegal action.
- Protections for “whistlebloggers” can assist you when you write about safety concerns or illegal occurrences in the workplace because you are performing a public good.
How to Stay Out of Trouble
While these laws can protect you, consider ways you can avoid trouble as you maintain your social media presence.
First, be nice to your coworkers. Posting hateful comments, criticizing someone’s weight or harassing a coworker is mean and could be ground for dismissal.
Second, leave racism and bigotry offline. Whether you’re joking or serious, racist or bigoted comments reflect poorly on you and on your employer.
Third, keep secrets. Confidential information, trade secrets and other private details about your company should not be shared in any way on social media.
