While social media policies can provide valuable protection for employers and help ensure that workers do not accidentally say something they should not, they can cause issues.
In particular, companies should make certain that their social media policy does not conflict with the National Labor Relations Act. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) may pursue action against employers if it perceives that they are using their social media policies to infringe upon workers' rights. Employee protections can be accidentally violated if a policy is worded too broadly, so care is a necessity, BLR notes.
One of the main concerns revolves around policies that prohibit employees from discussing wages, working conditions or unionization. One of the earliest cases that involved social media and the NLRB occurred when an employer terminated a worker after the individual commented on a supervisor online. Company policy prohibited defamatory or disparaging comments. It was ruled that the policy and firing were in contravention of the employee's right to discuss working conditions.
Businesses must keep this sort of HR compliance consideration in mind when crafting their social media policies if they wish to avoid such troubles.
