Articles Posted in Social Media and the Workplace

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how the Maryland Department of Corrections was facing heat from the ACLU for requiring job applicants to divulge their Facebook passwords. It seems that the DOC has listened (not to me, but to the ACLU).

You can see the ACLU’s response, as well as a discussion of Facebook “privacy rights,” after the jump.

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Did a bunch of bloggers sue you last week for wage and hour violations?

Has the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) threatened to file a complaint against you for Twitter shenanigans?

Well, that was Thomson Reuters’ week. And, as you can imagine, it sucked.

I share their grief, after the jump…

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It seems like every week day that we read stories about employees who get disciplined for posting stupid sh*t online. Although no business is immune to stupid employee behavior, employers that implement social media policies can reduce the risk of online idiocy.

Still, I am often asked if employers should require job applicants to divulge internet passwords to facilitate background checks and to reduce the risk of hiring employees who misbehave online.

Good question. A discussion follows…after the jump.

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On four Thursdays in March and April (3/17, 3/24, 3/31, 4/7), I am hosting a free breakfast in Philadelphia, PA for all of my readers. With your bagel and schmear, I throw in four all-star panels of lawyers and industry professionals who will offer up their social media best practices to both protect and enhance your business.

  • Imagine getting deep insight from a Fortune 500 100 Labor and Employee Relations Strategist about how unions are using social media to organize your business.
  • Or how about some money-saving tips from the HR Director of a NASDAQ-traded company about how you can maximize your search for job candidates using social media?

Natalie Munroe, a Philadelphia-area teacher, was suspended last week after her school learned that Munroe had blogged that she wished she could tell students, among other things, that they were “rude, beligerent, argumentative, and utterly loathsome in all imaginative ways.”

Ms. Munroe has since lawyered up, still blogs, and is now gaining national headlines. More on this developing story and the impact it could have on her employer, after the jump.

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Nothing really. But I needed to combine three topics into one quick blog post.

On Genetics

I will be presenting a webinar tomorrow (2/16) at 1:30 PM EST on how the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act will affect your company. If you had to click on the hyperlink, then you probably should sign up for the webinar. You can learn more about the webinar here.

Earlier this week, the internet was all a buzz with the news that an employer had settled with a former employee it fired for criticizing a supervisor on Facebook.

If you think that this settlement signals that employers are powerless to discipline employees who criticize their employers online, think again. Just ask a Philadelphia-area teacher who got tagged for criticizing her students on her personal blog.

More on this story and what it means for employers, after the jump.

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