{"id":6324,"date":"2019-01-21T10:41:42","date_gmt":"2019-01-21T15:41:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/?p=6324"},"modified":"2024-08-30T11:11:41","modified_gmt":"2024-08-30T15:11:41","slug":"discipline-employees-for-social-media-complaints","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/discipline-employees-for-social-media-complaints\/","title":{"rendered":"Can You Discipline Employees for Social Media Complaints?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"disciplineQ:<\/strong>\u00a0We\u2019ve become aware of a social media post by one of our employees in which he complained about his working hours and pay. The post was \u201cliked\u201d by several of his coworkers, one of whom commented \u201cPreach!\u201d and another of whom posted an angry face emoji. Can we discipline employees for social media complaints about the company?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

A:\u00a0<\/strong>We recommend against disciplining the employees for these activities on social media as their speech is almost certainly protected under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act<\/a>. Section 7 protects certain \u201cconcerted activity\u201d by employees, which is activity done in concert, meaning more than one employee is involved. This kind of activity is protected if it\u2019s related to their terms and conditions of employment (e.g., pay and scheduled hours).<\/p>\n

In this case, because the employee complained about their pay and hours in a virtual space and other employees joined in \u2013 expressing their agreement through \u201clikes,\u201d emojis, and comments \u2013 the actions are clearly concerted activity and therefore protected.<\/p>\n

However, this sort of social media activity by employees can be frustrating. One way to reduce the likelihood that employees will air their grievances on social media is to establish a means for them to do so internally. Employee surveys, comment boxes (whether physical or online), stay interviews<\/a>, and true \u201cOpen Door\u201d policies are all ways to solicit this feedback. The key is to be willing to listen and act on the information you gather. If employees think taking their complaints directly to a manager will end in retaliation, or simply won\u2019t lead to any change, they\u2019re more likely to keep complaining on the Internet.<\/p>\n

Another way to address this is by creating a social media policy for your company.\u00a0Here are a few do\u2019s and don\u2019ts to keep in mind when creating one:\u00a0
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

Social Media Policy DOs<\/h2>\n