Tag archives: social media

On allegations of sexual harassment made on social media in Quebec: what employers need to know

Photo of Carl TrudeauBy Carl Trudeau and Antoine Gagnon on Posted in Canada, Québec
Over the last few weeks, several cases of sexual harassment allegations have been posted both openly and anonymously on social media in Quebec. One issue that will surface for employers is how these public allegations should be handled when the actions, comments or gestures stem from one of their own employees. First, provincially regulated employers … Continue reading

Allégations de harcèlement sexuel sur les réseaux sociaux au Québec : ce que les employeurs doivent savoir

Photo of Carl TrudeauBy Carl Trudeau and Antoine Gagnon on Posted in Canada, Québec
Au courant des dernières semaines, nous avons pu assister à de nombreuses dénonciations publiées sur les médias sociaux eu égard à des allégations de harcèlement sexuel, qu’elles soient publiées à visage découvert ou bien de manière anonyme. Une question qui se pose pour un employeur est de déterminer comment gérer de telles allégations de nature … Continue reading

Employees’ freedom of speech on the Internet is not without boundaries

Global Workplace InsiderBy Elodie Grangier on Posted in Europe, France
Books, hotels, restaurants, products: you can find reviews and rating websites for just about everything on the internet – even employers. However, employees posting internet reviews of their employer should be careful and measured in what they say, or risk being subjected to disciplinary measures  – or even dismissal – if they abuse their freedom … Continue reading

Information collected via Facebook cannot – always – be used as evidence against an employee

Global Workplace InsiderBy Elodie Grangier on Posted in Europe, France
Technology is ever-changing, and while in the past evidence of an employee’s misconduct was based mainly on “physical” witnesses and observations, employers might now be tempted to use data obtained through social media as evidence against their employees. At the present time the French Supreme Court has not had many occasions to clarify the manner … Continue reading

The #MeToo Movement: When Employees Take Their Complaints to Social Media

Photo of Matt Heller (US)By Matt Heller (US) on Posted in North America, United States
As we are all aware, the news has been populated with stories concerning allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct, particularly in the entertainment and media industries as well as government institutions. These stories have contributed to the “#MeToo” movement, which originated on Twitter and other social media websites in late 2017 and has since become … Continue reading

Use of social media in France: Employee’s rights and obligations

Global Workplace InsiderPhoto of François GuillonBy Elodie Grangier and François Guillon on Posted in Contracts, Data privacy and GDPR, Europe, France
The impact of the use of social media in the workplace has regularly given rise to controversies and debates as how this subject is to be handled by a company’s management. The current state of employment law is still not entirely settled in this respect. It is however possible to provide some guidance on the … Continue reading

Time to update your employee handbook

Photo of Dennis Jackson (US)By Dennis Jackson (US) on Posted in United States
For many employers, the arduous task of reviewing and revising an employee handbook may occur as infrequently as every leap year, or worse, only after a law suit has been filed. However, recent decisions by the National Labor Relations Board (Board) should cause employers to take a much closer look at their employee policies and … Continue reading

Recent Ontario decision confirms that social media spaces are part of the workplace

Photo of William J. ArmstrongBy William J. Armstrong on Posted in Canada
The Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 113 v. Toronto Transit Commission (Use of Social Media Grievance), [2016] O.L.A.A. No. 267 decision deals with the use of social media in the workplace, and to what extent employers are required to manage their accounts in a way that protects their employees. The employer created a Twitter account for … Continue reading

Not all Messages Constitute #Justcause

Photo of Stéphane EricksonBy Stéphane Erickson on Posted in Canada
In a time where social media is everywhere and a business’s reputation means everything, employers continue to try and understand how certain posts on social media can justify an employee’s termination in the appropriate circumstances. In  MacKinnon v Helpline Inc., the Court ruled that an employee’s private, non-confidential, off-duty communications via Facebook and MSN e-mail … Continue reading

Monitoring an Employee’s use of the internet

Photo of Amanda Sanders (UK)By Amanda Sanders (UK) on Posted in Data privacy and GDPR, Europe, UK
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has held that an employee’s right to respect for private life and correspondence is not breached where an employer monitors the employee’s personal communications at work, subject to reasonableness and proportionality. Whilst this has caused a large amount of media interest in the UK, employers should be aware … Continue reading

Termination for Facebook post upheld by arbitrator – Despite absence of social media policy

Global Workplace InsiderBy Michael Torrance on Posted in Canada, Discrimination and harassment
The recent decision of United Steelworkers of America, Local 9548 v Tenaris Algoma Tubes Inc, 2014 CanLII 26445 (ON LA) provides an example of how a unionized employee’s off-duty social media behavior can justify dismissal, despite the absence of any reference to social media in the company’s harassment policies. The grievor was a crane operator … Continue reading

Social media creates a new terrain for employment related misconduct

Photo of Karen Ainslie (ZA)By Karen Ainslie (ZA) on Posted in General, South Africa
This article was written by Amelia Berman, an associate at Norton Rose Fulbright South Africa It is very common in this day and age for employers to have regard to prospective employees’ Facebook pages and Twitter accounts before employing them or for employers to inspect these social media platforms to verify the veracity of sick leave … Continue reading

Employees’ rights and obligations relating to the use of social media in Germany

Global Workplace InsiderBy Andreas Reuther on Posted in Data privacy and GDPR, Europe, Germany
In Germany 80% of all internet users are registered in social networks and 70% of all internet users actively make use of social networks. This development is also increasingly having an impact on the world of employment. Social media and recruitment In general, German data protection legislation allows the employer to collect and use an … Continue reading

Employees’ rights and obligations relating to the use of social media in France

Photo of Judicaël FouquetBy Judicaël Fouquet on Posted in Data privacy and GDPR, Europe, France
The impact of the use of social media in the workplace has regularly given rise to controversies and debates as how this subject is to be handled by a company’s management. The current state of employment law is still not entirely settled in this respect. It is however possible to provide some guidance on the … Continue reading

Employees’ rights and obligations regarding the use of social media in Australia

Photo of Helene LeeBy Helene Lee on Posted in Australia, Discrimination and harassment
The use of social media in Australia continues to grow on a daily basis. There are now over 13.4 million daily users of Facebook, 3.9 million active users of LinkedIn and over 2.7 million monthly users of Twitter (Source: Social Media Statistics Australia). There is a good chance that one, if not all of your employees … Continue reading

Picketing in the age of Google

Photo of Karen Ainslie (ZA)By Karen Ainslie (ZA) on Posted in South Africa
This article was written by Douglas de Jager, a candidate attorney at Norton Rose Fulbright South Africa The right of striking workers to picket is an important tool in the collective bargaining process.  A picket traditionally involves the gathering of striking workers in a public place to demonstrate against their employer or to create awareness … Continue reading

Dismissal for Facebook post upheld by Arbitrator

Global Workplace InsiderBy Michael Torrance on Posted in Canada
In Canada Post Corp. and C.U.P.W. (730-07-01912) (2012), the grievor, a postal clerk with 31 years of service, was discharged after management became aware of her inappropriate postings on her Facebook account. The postings were made over a one-month period and contained a number of derogatory, mocking statements about her workplace and supervisors. The employer argued … Continue reading

Monitoring social media pays off

Global Workplace InsiderBy Annette van Beers on Posted in Europe, The Netherlands
WhatsApp messages in which an employee expresses his opinion about a superior in an offensive manner can be sufficient reason for the employee’s instant dismissal. For employers, therefore, monitoring social media use by their employees pays off, and the importance of a good social media policy is ever increasing. In a recent case, a colleague … Continue reading

Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube and personal email accounts….how far can an employer go when it comes to using their contents as evidence against an employee?

Global Workplace InsiderBy Elif Oral on Posted in Canada, North America, Québec
With the proliferation of social media, employers are more and more tempted to resort to their employees’ personal accounts so as to obtain valuable evidence whenever a dispute arises. For example, whether it be to provide proof of an employee’s state of mind, of activities that are incompatible with an employment injury or of fraudulent … Continue reading
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