Social media implies "social" aspects of life. Isn't this why there are professional codes of ethics and company ethic codes?

You may have freedom of speech/expression, however this freedom has some boundaries which mustn't be crossed

when there not at work and like it says a social media site they should not get fired thats so wrong, on so many levels, he should be able to sue the own or the place, for the firing him like that. very wrong in my book!

Absolutely not. That would be called freedom of speach...anybody else here remember what that is? If you friended your boss than maybe, and it would be your own fault, but otherwise you should have the right to share your opinion.

if the employer and employee are going to be that rude to each other they shouldn't be working together anyway. It creates a bad and hostile work environment. So someone should get fired or quit and get a different job elsewhere.

I believe that its perfectly viable to fire an employee for an inappropriate social media post simply because employees represent the company they work for. Employees with exposed material online can give an industry a bad name.

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I don't think that what they do with their personal time is their employers business. As long as it didn't have anything to do with said persons workplace or was illegal. Even then, you should be terminated for incidents that happen AT WORK, not on your free time. There's someone my husband works with and so help me, he's destroyed cars, ran someone over and broke their leg and he's still got a job.

Only if it had anything to do with their job, or is against the law.

Muy buena pregunta

Never add your boss on social network.Lol

Why should employers have the right to control the actions of any employee while said person is "OFF-THE-CLOCK"? We are individuals with Constitutional rights first and employee second or in some cases third if you're a parent or have prior obligations. In my opinion unless the Company has a morals clause and employee has signed or the referenced actions are proven to be the direct cause of a significant and documented loss of revenue the answer is NO. Tell me your opinion.

Only if it was sent using the employers computer.

If it's a personal thing, no. If it affects the job they do or how it makes the business look, yes. Personal posts, I don't see why it's any of the boss's business, to be quite honest. Your life outside of work is on you, not your boss.

Only if it was sent using the employers computer.

Depends what it is. Like if you are complaining about how much you hate your job and you get caught, guess what? They can replace you with someone else who is more appreciative of the job.

Great question :)

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There are so many possible situations that could cause a reprimand/firing from the employer or situations that are just 'free speech' and should not cause a ruckus. First of all I don't believe an employer should have the right to search a person's social post's. I have heard of some companies requiring an employee to give their employer access to their social accounts. My life outside of work is my business no one else's..But if it get's back to them that you said something derogatory then what most people think is 'Free speech' is not. Free speech is a very touchy subject. You can claim 'free speech' all you want but if it offends someone else, it is not allowed and can land you in trouble. (Unless it is said/done in private) The world is out of control and anything you say/do, will/can cause a headache for you.

If your profile says you work at as a daycare worker at a certain place and you you have pics of yourself showing cleavage and drinking then I would say yes. You can't represent a company on social media and not at the same time.

always depends on the situation

At work most are told to leave their personal problems at home. So the same should hold true for the employer as well. If someone were to post on THEIR profile, then the company should not be able to do anything to the employee on a professional level, i.e; firing them. Personal life does not mix well with professional life, and professional life does not mix well with personal life.

if it is work related I would say yes

If it negatively affects the company's brand or reputation or relationship with their client base, absolutely.

if posted during company time or while representing the company in any other way (ie wearing uniform), most definitely. Or if the comment is regarding work, (ie medical personnel talking about patients and naming names [violation of privacy act], or talking about the company [mergers, trade secrets, ect]) again yes. Or any other similar situations.

And yes if it involves other illegal activities as well.

But if they are simply expressing their opinion, (ie about the president and the boss does not like what is said), then no.

We need to be very careful about the slippery slope that this topic could easily go down.

To me it depends on whether the Employee is using the Companies Computer.

Depends

Depends on the job and the situation.

Yes, if it is degrading and scornful! If they have thoughts or see things like that they should keep it to themselves!!

a persons life is freedom of speech and everything is there own. company have no rights outside of there busness, this is the united state and if someone fired me because I don't like something then that is illegal. in the work place yes because they should have rights because doing something there. outside is no because it's the person life and there time. no company have right in a persons life outside of the work place. and in the united state we have laws to protect us and no company can over rule that. its like my walking into a store and them saying no to saling me food just because its me. I can take them to court and they would be heavy fined for there actions. it just takes one person to stand then more well follow.

Jobs should not be on employees social media. Any body could have posted that. As much hacking we have in computers. I think it is not fare.

eh....

A kindergarten teacher should probably avoid taking drunken, half-naked selfies. That's the egregious example, sure. But hanging your hat on "free speech" does not (as someone mentioned) exonerate you from consequences. Like it or not, what you put out on social media is a representation of your character and employers have every right to decide who they want to represent their company. Their. "eir". That's the possessive. Please learn it...( Or don't apply for a position as a copy editor and then stomp your feet about freedom of expression when your incoherent tweets cost you the job. )

If you make your Facebook page private than no one can see it. And if you use a fake name no one from work can find you

Is an "inappropriate comment" another way of saying "politically incorrect comment"? No, I really think that freedom of speech is just that. If you find the comment to be inappropriate, you have the right to disagree or ignore it and if it truly harmed you, then take them to court for slander. But all of this political correctness is getting to be too much.

No unless it is directed towards their job or employer.

The day the government can tell private companies who they can and cannot fire is the day that this country is in serious trouble. People should be able to hire or fire anybody they want...it's their company not yours and not the governments.

Well if you think about a ignorant person means stupid company...

opa!

I think a private facebook page is this that. I don't think a person should be fired for a posting there except if the post includes proof of an illegal act. But, if the person posts on a public site such as a the workplace's site, then all is fair game. I have seen people post on their retail store's facebook page comments that should be shared privately with management.

Only if it is clearly against policy spelled out in the company policy manual.

The problem I see is, who decides what is inappropriate?

Only if it had a connection or to do with the workplace. Otherwise it's not their business outside of work unless it affects their business.

It depends on the context of the employment and the position in the company. Is the person a public face? Do they deal direct with clients? Absolutely it should be cause for warning and eventually firing, as you're a direct representation of the brand. Is the person in the warehouse and the photos are them drunk at a party? No big deal.

Yes, under certain circumstances. If the employee is spewing hate toward a race or commenting inappropriately on an underage person's photos or something of that nature, then the employer can by all means distance themselves from those views. Freedom of speech protects you from being jailed for your words (acting inappropriately toward an underage person is illegal so that's different) but it doesn't protect you from any repercussions your words may have.

hmm tough call,if I were an employer that would have to be on a 'case by case' bases. Only for extreme cases I would fire someone immediately.

Wut

No. What people do on their own time is their own business.

Depends, If the employer do not allow their employee to do such things, I don't see a reason why not fire them.

Please work..do not look at my facebook.. I mean.. I LOVE MY JOB AND ALL THE PEOPLE THERE! I do love my job but there are days where I question why I'm still there. I think for an employee to be fired..it should be for something really bad.