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
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
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
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 in which evidence obtained by French employers through the Facebook website (and more particularly on the “wall” of an individual) should be treated by the courts.
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 a widespread message on social media encouraging individuals to share their stories and speak out against sexual harassment and abuse. But while its purposes are laudable, the #MeToo movement is a touchy subject for employers, who ever-more-frequently find themselves accused of sexual harassment or other misconduct on social media and must grapple with the implications of publicly aired grievances.
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
This post was co-written by Sabrina English, Trainee Solicitor, Norton Rose Fulbright LLP, London
A recent decision of the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights has held that an employer had infringed an employee’s rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the Convention) when it dismissed him for
Employees are under the mistaken belief that what they do in their time away from the office, specifically on social media, is private and beyond the reach of their employer’s control.
They fail to consider that they could face disciplinary action for their online rants and comments. This could be fatal to their employment. The
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
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