Social Media and the Workplace: A Legal Stance
Since the advent of Twitter, Facebook and other similar sites there has been a popularity of social media. There are plenty of challenges that the workplace has to face when it comes to social media. Firstly, the companies have to decide if they are willing to use the social media sites to offer products like coupons, discounts, and even updates with regards to the social media platform. Employers are risking quite a bit legally when they use these sites for updates. Furthermore, they risk a lot by not using them. Most people want to see companies on these sites get updates or at least to find out information about a company. The company such as the staff has to decide what they are willing to share. They have to consider if sharing a CEO profile is necessary or if it breaks privacy laws.
This is just one area in which social media sites can cast a legal shadow over a company. The wrong statement made online in a social forum like Facebook or Twitter could also cause issues. For example, an update about the company or an employee could be taken the wrong way. If something is mistyped on the site such as 10% being 100% this could also cause issues legally with a promotion. It means those posting have to be especially careful of what they are saying and also adhere to the website terms and conditions .
There is a secondary way to look at all of this. The employer also has to consider what their employees are doing online during working hours. While it is a company policy in the US and most of Europe including the UK to offer updates about the company now that is mostly for the press release department or media liaison.
Other employees who are online with social media sites during work hours could be fired, which opens up a new legal consideration. Employers could risk ridicule for firing an employee for being on the net while they are working. To a degree using the internet in a company for research is required; however, for employees that are playing games, surfing the net to buy goods for their home or using it for personal reasons they could potentially be fired.
There is an argument that it may not be legal to consider this abuse of social media sites as a reason to terminate an employee. There is further issue with social media sites in how employers may use them to learn more about their new employee.
In the UK it is not prohibited for the employer to visit a social media page of a prospective employee and determine if there is information that could be useful for the application. However, legal action has already been undertaken by some potential employees stating that certain employers have used discrimination on characteristics like gender, sexual orientation, race, and age found on these sites to ignore an applicant. It is illegal for this type of discrimination on an application, but nothing has been said about social media sites being used as long as they stick to the website terms and conditions online .
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