Can you really lose your job for posting an opinion on Twitter, or even for
clicking “like” on somebody else’s message? Surprising though it may be to
employees, the answer is often yes.
Pascal Besselink, a
Dutch employment lawyer, estimates that about one in ten firings in the
Netherlands is now related to behavior on social media. Few get much attention
because companies tend to settle disputes quietly. Even when firms are right, they
prefer to stay out of the spotlight, so many buy off fired employees in
exchange for their silence.
Controversial opinions were once expressed in bars after work, and went no
further. Today Twitter and other social media broadcast employees’ thoughts and
also make it easy for anyone who is offended to put together a crowd and
retaliate against the poster and their employer.
Firms are increasingly
concerned about what their employees say and write outside the office. To prevent conflicts,
companies are beginning to spell out their expectations in codes of conduct and
social-media policies. The level of detail varies. Intel simply asks employees
to “use common sense”. General Motors’ 12-page social-media policy includes a
reminder that “your online communications will not be excused merely because
they occurred outside of work hours or off GM premises.”
Though it is not necessarily in companies’ interests to allow the free
expression of opinion, it is clearly in society’s interest. Free speech is a
cornerstone of democracy. At the moment workers are too easily gagged.
In laying down clearer rules, legislators should remember that offending
and harassing are different. It is not reasonable for companies to try to
prevent their employees from expressing displeasure at gay marriage. But an
employee who repeatedly says at work that gays are damned, even after being
told to stop, has crossed the line into harassment. That should be grounds for
dismissal.
There is also a difference between what people do at work and what they do
outside. Speech is like a dress code. Companies can ask their employees to look
the part while at work. After people go home, though, they should be able to
express their opinions freely, just as they are free to change into jeans and
a t-shirt.
Most employers simply
want a pragmatic approach to regulating speech at work that allows people to
get on with their jobs while avoiding both the courts and the media. That is
easier said than done.
From The Economist (edited)
