Many people air their grievances about everything and everything on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and other social media sites. However, you can find yourself out of a job if you are complaining about the inept colleague you are stuck working with or making fun of your employer. You can be breaking company rules even if you are announcing something positive, like an innovative product that your business will soon launch. Read on to learn some very helpful tips from injury attorneys at Sattiraju & Tharney.
Even sharing political or other beliefs online (or having them photographed and posted on social media by someone else) might result in you losing your job. We have all seen examples of people harassing someone on camera or posting racist comments online. Social media sites, like Twitter, do not take long to recognize them as well as their employment and demand that they be fired. A firm may feel forced to fire an employee if their remarks or actions cause the company to be publicly embarrassed.
Many businesses do not have social media policies for their staff members, but some do. Being “at-will” employees means that most people can be fired for almost any cause, provided that it is not determined by an officially recognized trait such as ethnicity or sexual orientation.
Common rules to follow while posting on social media about your work.
Here are some common sense rules to follow if your employer does not have an explicit rule on social media posts:
- Anything you would not say to your manager or the executive leader of your firm should not be said online.
- Never divulge information that is not already public about your business, its workers, or its clientele.
- Nothing you would not want everyone in the office to see should be posted online. No matter how effective your security measures are, you cannot ensure that something will not be disclosed. Do not publish images if you went to the beach on a sick day.
- If you are unsure, do not publish. Even when you remove it a short while later, it may still be screenshotted and come back to bite you.
If you are looking for a job, remember that potential employers may also view your social media posts, especially if they are not private. Even if you only occasionally go out partying with pals, if your Instagram portrays you as a party animal, employers could be hesitant to give you a chance, regardless of your qualifications.