It’s scary, but true. More and more, companies are enacting policies that prohibit employees from mentioning the name of the company they work for online. Teachers have been fired for what has been perceived as inappropriate content on their MySpace or Facebook accounts.
I find this to be a serious problem. We should have the freedom to post or say what we want to in the social media arena. A teacher should be able to post a picture of her drinking. An employee, of any company, should be able to post the name of the company that he/she works for.
What right does an employer have to dictate what someone does in their private life? If it is legal, then there should be no problem. What will be next? Will companies be able to outline policies that prevent you from stating your political beliefs on the internet? Will they be able to enact policies about moral behavior?
Schools are already demonstrating that they care about employees moral behavior. Employees have been fired over it. This is a judgment call. What one person feels is immoral, another may not. An example would be 39-year-old Jarretta Hamiliton, who was fired from Southland Christian School in St. Cloud, Florida. The reason, she had premarital sex.
“Jarretta was asked not to return because of a moral issue that was disregarded, namely fornication, sex outside of marriage. The employment application, which she filled out, clearly states that as a leader before our students we require all teachers to maintain and communicate the values and purpose of our school.” Principal Jon Ennis
From CBS Atlanta:
“A former high school teacher is suing a north Georgia school district, alleging she was forced to resign over photos and expletives on her Facebook page.Ashley Payne, 24, claimed the Barrow County school district violated state labor law because she was never told she was entitled to a hearing…Payne resigned Aug. 27 after her principal questioned her about her Facebook page, which included photos of her holding wine and beer and an expletive. She had worked at the school for two years.”
Is this right? Do they have the right? In my opinion, NO.
Another question to consider: If you are a blogger, can your spouse be fired for something you put on your blog?
Companies are private businesses so they have the right to chose who they hire and fire. Whether or not you are on company time, you represent the company you work for. Your morals, your values, whether you drink or pray. If you post on your facebook that you work for such and such company and then show yourself half naked and drunk with your head in the toilet, people can associate that with the company.
Do I think it's right? I'm not sure. My husband agrees with it 100%. He even got a slap on the wrist from his current company for tweeting for help with a situation he was involved with.
I agree that people could associate it with the company, but I think it is crossing the line for a company to dictate what you do on your time. If it doesn't affect your job performance, and you didn't sign a morals clause when you were hired, outlining acceptable and unacceptable behavior, a company should not be able to come back later and say that what you did is unacceptable and you are fired.
I think what's even scarier is the fact that FB, and other social media keep back files of things that a person has posted. I believe that this information is actually admissible in a court of law if someone is prosecuted for something. It's a shame that people are unable to keep their private lives and downtime private anymore.
I agree. You have to be careful that what you put out there isn't something you will personally regret later. Even if you take it off of your page, it's still floating around.
I think it's crazy because we are in the United States and we have freedom of speech. However…
In many cases, jobs in the private sector… where a teacher takes a position with a Christian school and agree to the morals and values of the organization then they HAVE to hold up those values and morals.
My spouse's job declares in the employee handbook that the employee will do NOTHING that is deemed a negative reflection on the company. They have left it open to interpretation. But one of the employees was dismissed after they got a DUI.
The state we live in businesses can fire you for no reason at all. I don't think that is right either.
In some instances, yes, I think it is justifiable to fire an employee for their social media behavior.
I absolutely believe that they have to right. If you want to keep your pivate life private don't post it on a public forum.
Mostly you have to be careful what you put on social media. I almost never mention my company's name (Not sure if I ever have) but many people still know who I work for.
A lot of things I do in the virtual world affect companies in the real world. For example, a complaint I made about a particular company's behavior regarding licensing (without mentioning or even clueing their name) resulted in a call from a much bigger company who eventually disciplined them over the issue.
re: the teacher. If you're 39 and still not married, you should be allowed to have sex even in the most stringent "Christian" societies. Also … nice to see the school demonstrating "christian" values like … forgiveness.
I think in some cases you have to watch out what you put out there, for sure. I mean even without worrying about a job … what if you get pics out there your children find when they are older?! I mean some people have had that happen. So it's all a matter of being legal, keeping it real and do not put stuff out there you don't want others to see or find.
ON the other hand, I am not sure if you should be fired from a position, depending upon the position, due to your personal life. It's hard to say I agree or disagree with this in all honesty.
I side with the companies on this one. When you work for a company, you represent them on and off duty and should reflect that companies believes and moral standards with your own behavior.
If your company has made you sign and you are aware of any policies regarding this and you violate them, then yes you will get fired and rightly so. However, if you are simply being yourself, not posting where you work and not violating any known laws, I do not think a company has any right to fire you for things not done on company time.
Having said this, I do not post my full name, my husband or daughter's names or where we live online. My FB is private. For me, it's a personal privacy issue. But I also want to protect my family as much as I can when I'm online. I don't even post the names, first or otherwise, of the in-laws I bitch about on my blog. LOL Why? Well, I don't have permission to do so and I would really rather not have them come at me with anything else. I simply say BIL, SIL or FIL.
I do feel that all of our personal freedoms seem to be disappearing with the wind and that deeply concerns me.
~ Shan
Companies need to balance between security and freedom which is not an easy thing to balance.
I also feel that social media can cost you your job.
I think it's crabby that companies are doing this. People should be allowed a life outside of work
I actually think the school was fine becz she knew the agreement & that is a Christian school. They do have standards & she knew them & went against them, so that was warranted.
This certainly makes you think twice about what you put on your Facebook, huh? I think it is not right that companies do this.