warning: blogging can get you fired
NaeNae55
3,243 Posts
Warning: Blogging can get you fired
Of course, it may depend upon the content and where you work:
[url]http://www.inc.com/news/articles/2010/05/nonprofit-fires-woman-for-blogging-about-sex.html[/url]
Of course, it may depend upon the content and where you work:
[url]http://www.inc.com/news/articles/2010/05/nonprofit-fires-woman-for-blogging-about-sex.html[/url]
Comments
It's definitely a tough situation - a few months ago, we terminated an employee for performance reasons. A week or so after the termination discussion, she all the sudden brought up some harassment issues and started threatening legal action - it was a nightmare.
The kicker is, if we had just googled her (which we did after termination), we would have learned that she sued her two most recent employers for the same sort of thing...I think that at times, you can make a case for "googling" an applicant, the question is, what do you do with that information, especially if it could get you into hot water when it comes to pre-employment discrimination or protected activities? Had we known about the prior lawsuits, we probably wouldn't have hired the woman, but that's not necessarily the "right" thing to do....how's that for a sticky wicket?
I used to play alot of paintball and I wrote articles for a couple national magazines and websites. If you google my name some of my articles come up along with paintball photos. Taken out of context, you might think I was in some right wing militia.
Unless there is a direct connection to the individual's job performance, I dont see how an employer fires an employee for their private online activity.
At the very least, I think this blogger should have been contacted about the situation and given the opportunity to remedy it.
Think about Frank. How many jokes are on this forum about Frank's lack of pants? What if a potential employer were to view this forum? Sure, its all true and accurate and FUTURE EMPLOYERS OF FRANK NEED MAY WANT TO BE AWARE OF HIS ALTERNATIVE LIFESTYLE but is that fair to Frank?
I am not sure what choice would have been correct. What if you talk to the employee and they take down the website only to sue you later because you let someone else keep theirs and they interpret it as some kind of discrimination (and can't that happen now anyway)? What if you didn't look but it became a small scandal and you lost clients because of it (what if you gained some)? This is one where you really need all the facts, including details about how the company presents itself to its stakeholders.
There are probably already employers who have been affected by the intense popularity (addiction) of these sites. I could easily envision employees requesting time off or missing work because of their virtual life online.
Uh oh. I think I just said too much!
I will confess that I have actually taken time off for special game-related events, but I took vacation time and even told everyone I was doing so for game-related stuff. To me it was no different than taking a few days off to go to a sports event, concert, wine tour, or on a family trip.
In related news, apparently May 31 has now been labeled "Quit Facebook Day" in the wake of recent privacy concerns. Personally I find it amusing that there are some people who are naive enough to think that it's only the advent of social media that has made their online lives discoverable by employers, parents, etc., and that quitting Facebook will put them back in control. If an employee is posting things on Facebook that would make him or her feel vulnerable in the event of hacking, privacy invasion, identity theft, etc., then that's an underlying issue that deleting one's Facebook isn't likely to fix. If you wouldn't want your mom or your boss to know about it, don't put it on the Internet.
[url]http://scitech.blogs.cnn.com/2010/05/17/group-plans-quit-facebook-day/[/url]
[url]http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37192342/from/ET?gt1=43001[/url]
We all know the answer. The employee would be outraged! Yet employees think its perfectly acceptable to badmouth their employer online.
Recently we had an employee leave us. He posted something about being excited to leave and start a new job. Nothing bad about that. His friends, however, posted some stupid stuff so I contacted him and just asked him to be careful what he said at work and online. He removed the thread (although I didnt ask him too).
As an employer, these are no-win scenarios. If you jump into the fray you may very well make the situation worse and embolden your critics. Simply ignoring the comments may not feel good but it may be the best route. If your company has a good reputation overall a few gripes on Facebook aren't going to have any lasting damage.
But before you do this, heed Ecclesiastes 7:21 "Do not pay attention to everything other people say or you may hear your servant curse you."
Celeste