Social Media and the Employment Relationship

Posted on August 16, 2011 by Matt Meigs in Social Media

click to see TriNet's participation in social media

The ever-popular topic of social media touches many aspects of the employment relationship. We’d like to share some of our best practices and tips on the topic but would like make sure we’re focusing on the issues that matter the most. Here are some examples of questions we’ve received from clients:

• Can I discipline an employee for negative comments made posted on social media websites about his/her manager or employer?
• If multiple employees make negative comments on social media websites about their employer, is that protected activity under the NLRB?
• If a potential employer sees something on social media about a candidate that gives them reason to be concerned about hiring that person, what are the ethics/legalities involved with that decision?
• What restrictions can I put on employees about the content/format of their postings where their employer is identified?

What are we missing? Share your questions either in the comments section below or on our Facebook page and we’ll follow up with another post. In the meantime, check out this great post from NY Times’ blog “You’re the Boss” that shares a couple of examples of small businesses that are doing it right and getting impressive returns on their social media investment.