Technological Privacy
With all sorts of new social networking websites being created, employers, employees, and human resource professionals are coming across new challenges. One of these challenges is whether or not what a person does online is the company’s business or not. In an age where everyone wants complete privacy, but at the same time want to know what everyone else is up to, the internet is becoming both a terror and a tool. One thing employees should always keep in mind is that employers do not want anyone tarnishing the company’s reputation or image. When dissatisfied employees turn to the internet to vent any irritations or frustrations with their jobs, the appropriate responsorial action turns into a gray area. Is it legal to fire an employee for a lack of professionalism and positive attitude outside of the workplace? This is one question that is still in debate.
At Houston’s restaurant in New Jersey, a bartender and a waitress set up a myspace site designated for employees to talk about their frustrations at work without fear of reproach. On this webpage, the two creators made fun of restaurant patrons, décor, and management. At a small social gathering, one of the waitresses showed the website to one of the supervisors. This supervisor later took down her e-mail log-in and password in order to access the page and show it to all the other managers. Later, the waitress and bartender who created the page were fired because their online posts violated the company policies on professionalism and a positive attitude. The waitress and bartender are claiming the managers illegally accessed their webpage and violated their privacy rights as defined by New Jersey. This becomes an argument of what is deemed private communication and what is not. Personally, I think if you post anything in a public forum or on a page that can be looked at by multiple people, it isn’t private. If it is a private e-mail message, then it is private. Therefore, if you’re feeling angry or upset by something going on at work, don’t post about it online. Talk it out with maybe one person in a private communication such as an e-mail or phone call.
No comments:
Post a Comment