Many of us have griped about a bad day at work but many people are using Facebook and other social media sites to share their frustrations rather than utilize other avenues. Recently, the Wall Street Journal contained an article highlighting the increase in litigation stemming from loose fingers. The article, Workers Claim Right To Rant on Facebook, states that "more than 100 employers have been accused by workers over the last 12 months of improper activity related to social media practices or policies".
There is a distinction, however, between mere griping and discussions made with the goal of improving working conditions. The National Labor Relations Board states that "mere complaining isn't protected" according to the Journal article. The article goes on to offer a few guidelines from the NLRB as to what constitutes protected employee behavior. For additional examples of cases involving social media employee complaints, try this article from Smart HR Manager: "Social Media: NLRB Says Employees' Job Complaints on Facebook Are Protected". On the employee side, here are some tips from CNN Living: "Can Facebook Get You Fired?".
How best to address this? Well, the Smart HR Manager article gives you a clue when they indicate the company "did not establish that the employees violated any of its policies or rules" - have a clearly defined policy in place and ensure all employees have read the policy, agree to it, and provide training regarding procedures for handling employee complaints.
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