As those of you who pay attention to the National Labor Relations Board know (which should be all employers, since the National Labor Relations Act applies to unionized and non-union employers alike), the issue of social media policies is an area particularly fraught with confusion. In many circumstances, the Board has found such policies – or certain provisions in such policies – to unlawfully restrict employees’ rights under the Act to communicate about the terms and conditions of their employment. Thus, we labor practitioners rabidly follow each pronouncement of the Board or its General Counsel on this issue, trying to ascertain the legal parameters of such policies.
Continue Reading Wait! What Does the NLRB Think About Social Media Policies?!!!

The incessant rain on the East Coast, interspersed with weird calms of blue-sky sunniness, are jarring in ways that make one reflect.  What I reflect upon these days is the speed with which people’s careers are destroyed, like a burst of rain displacing the sun, when they do something stupid that in “my old days” would fade away.
Continue Reading Twitter Storms, Flash Floods, No Jobs

Employers struggle with the challenges of social media platforms that allow employees to post information, complaints, and even disclose confidential company information on an anonymous basis. Often, the information is false or misleading – but employers usually find little recourse, as we’ve discussed in a previous post, Employee Warning – GlassDoor Posts May Not Always Be Anonymous (in which we discuss the rare case where the employer triumphs). This week, CNN Money reported on another new app, “Blind,” for employees to make these anonymous postings.
Continue Reading Another Anonymous Employee Posting App? Watch Out!

pcodqjeziWe are all watching and reading how Uber is responding to yet the latest scandal and legal problem to confront the on-demand ride service giant.  About a week ago, a former Uber employee, Susan Fowler, posted a blog about why she left Uber last December. Susan alleges (and these are only allegations at this point) that during her one year at Uber as an engineer, she was subject to harassment and a rampant sexist culture at Uber, and when she complained, Uber did nothing.
Continue Reading What Does the Ex-Uber Employee’s Blog Teach Employers about the Power of Social Media?

Recently, The Century Foundation, a group that pursues “non-partisan research and policy analysis” released a report on virtual labor organizing. The report assesses how a mobile application (“app”) or website could provide a platform that would help workers organize for labor campaigns.

According to the report, approximately 96 percent of workers use Internet, e-mail, or

People are increasingly turning to social media to vent their frustrations, and those frustrations frequently involve the workplace. The problem is that managers, who are deemed to speak and act for the company as a matter of law, can cause problems with a social media rant.

This issue is on my mind because it recently

As I’ve said before, it amazes me what people will put on their Facebook (and other social media) pages.  Many users, particularly Gen-X’ers, Y’ers, and millienials (and my crazy teenagers), tend to think of Facebook as being a private conversation (with 500 of their dearest friends).  Savvy employers should keep this in mind when faced