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Today's Poll: Should employers be able to regulate employees social media comments?

By Howard B. Owens
Randy Smart

Posting social comments is a freedom that is protected, but employees have to either be willing to face the consequences of making negative remarks about their employer (I see John from your facebook page that you feel that this company sucks. I'm sorry, but that means you won't be getting that raise we had talked about...) or make the comments in a general way. Many moons ago I worked for a place that was rife with bad management, so I wrote a nice letter to the editor about the responsibilities of good managers. I never named any of my managers, nor the place where I worked, but I was able to make my point without jeapordizing my job. Were they mad? Yes. Did they give me dirty looks? Of course. But if what I wrote upset them so, then it must have hit close to the truth.

Jan 22, 2013, 9:08am Permalink
Jack Dorf

By law an employer can't regulate an employees social media speech. By law an employer can fire an employee for no reason in NYS. The employee can also quit a job without giving a reason.

Jan 22, 2013, 1:27pm Permalink
kevin kretschmer

Totally unrelated to this thread but comments apparently aren't allowed for sponsored posts (I tried but although the link is visible with the ad, it disappears upon clicking the comments portion).

Did the folks at ""Greased Lightning" say why the Liberty street location is under new ownership yet again? I noticed the large banner out front the other day, which makes for the 3rd or 4th change in the past five years or so. Continual turnover like this doesn't inspire a great deal of consumer reassurance.

Jan 22, 2013, 2:36pm Permalink
Mark Brudz

Freedom without consequence isn't really freedom. You can and should be able to say pretty much anything that you wish on social media. However, when someone says something there is an inherent responsibility to accept the consequences of what your statement may result in. Political opinion is one thing and should not be infringed, Comments about your employer or his business is another issue on public media.

Think about this, you owned a business and you had an employee posting that you were incompetent, why would you trust them to represent your business?

Jan 22, 2013, 5:29pm Permalink

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