Tag: Social Media

Reporting Businesses FLSA Violations Is Now Just a Smartphone App Away

Business owners should be aware that customers typing away on their smartphones might actually be reporting FLSA violations to the U.S. Department of Labor. DOL’s recently created smartphone app, “Eat Shop Sleep,” allows users to search for places to eat, shop and sleep and to read Yelp customer reviews. However, the app also provides users […]

Social Media: HR Should Heed Two Lessons From New NLRB Report

Based on recent case law, when it comes to social media, human resources (HR) professionals need to be mindful of the scope of their policies, as well as the context of employee comments on that platform, according to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). On Jan. 24, NLRB Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon released his […]

Social Media: Don’t Get Off Track With the Law in Monitoring Employees

Recently, we posted survey results from the Society of Human Resource Management showing that almost a third of respondents monitor employees’ use of social media platforms. Hopefully, they are also tracking the laws that could limit the extent of such monitoring. “Social media monitoring that runs afoul of the employee’s privacy interests will subject the […]

Social Media: SHRM Reports How More Employers Are Plugging in

Nearly 70 percent of organizations are using social media to reach external audiences and build relationships with current and potential customers, and/or potential employees, with Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter being the top three sites used, according to a survey by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). This survey is part three in a series […]

Social Media: Salesman Correctly Fired After Disparaging Facebook Posts

Facebook’s not the place to make grossly disparaging remarks about your employer — that should not be a new concept to most employees. And while employers should be careful about overly restrictive policies, there is a line beyond which employees can be fired. In this case, a Chicago area car salesman’s posts about cheap food his employer […]

Social Media: NLRB Says Employees’ Job Complaints on Facebook Are Protected

An employer violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) by firing five employees who complained on Facebook — off-hours — about their jobs, an administrative law judge for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) held. So the employer must do penance by rehiring them and making them whole for any loss of earnings and other […]

Social Media Background Checks—Yes or No?

First of all, what’s the controversy? Con: Checks Are Dangerous   Experts against doing social media background checks say that they are dangerous, for several reasons: In doing these checks, you’re bound to find out information about applicants that you don’t want, such as race, religion, age, etc. Even though it’s obtained innocently, that information […]

Social Media: An Employer’s FMLA Rant Could Cause Someone to RETALIATE

When it comes to workplace policy on social media, much attention is on the inappropriate actions of lower-level employees. But what happens when the loose cannon is the boss? One recent news article shows that in such cases, it’s best that at a minimum, the boss Find Methods to Limit Analogies. The article in the […]

Social Media: NLRB Eyeing Employer Policies

Employer workplace policies on social media are being scrutinized in more than 129 cases before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), says a study from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. This data wasn’t just handed to the Chamber. Rather, the group submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the NLRB “seeking copies of all […]

Social Media and Hiring: Beware of Other Legal Risks

Yesterday, we noted that because of anti-discrimination and credit reporting laws, when it comes to using social media to gain intel on prospective employees, HR professionals cannot just act like kids in the candy store. Why, they can’t even act like kids in the candy aisle at the grocery, because there are even more legal […]