http://www.zdnet.com/blog/igeneration/apple-fires-employee-for-critical-facebook-posting-were-they-right-to/13306
By Zack Whittaker November 2, 2011
Summary: Apple reportedly fired a retail store employee after they posted negative comments about the company on Facebook. Was Apple right to do so?
A UK employment tribunal reportedly upheld the sacking firing of an Apple retail store employee, who posted negative comments about the stores on the social network Facebook.
A supposed ‘friend’ showed the post to the store manager, who subsequently let the hapless employee go. Despite posting the negative comment as ‘private’, the employee appealed to an employment tribunal after being sacked for “gross misconduct”.
But was Apple in the right, or should it have issued a stern warning? It’s ‘this old chestnut’ once again.
(Source: Flickr, CC)
The Cupertino-based company has a series of serious brands to maintain, and clearly employees put their hearts and souls into maintaining that image. The brand, arguably, is what makes Apple what it is — a global giant for which tens, if not hundreds of millions around the world have utter adoration for.
But the company has strict social media rules to protect its commercial reputation, and forbids the posting of any negative comments on any social media site or social network.
According to the initial report, Apple “made it absolutely plain throughout the induction process that commentary on Apple products, or critical remarks about the brand, were strictly prohibited”.
The UK employment tribunal, according to CNET, upheld the firing because it ruled that posting even a seemingly private comment “does not give privacy protection”, therefore, “Apple successfully argued that it was justified and proportionate to limit this right (of posting) in order to protect its commercial reputation against potentially damaging posts.”
If this is the case, then any communication, whether verbal, written or electronically published, could be seen as ‘not private’, breaking the rules wide open for potential abuse by employers.
Companies can often be left in difficult territory when social media rules are not defined. A recent Cisco study suggests that amongst the Generation Y, two-thirds of college students will ask about social media policies during a job interview, with over half not accepting a job that bans social media in the workplace.
Social media is a tricky one to control. Anybody could copy and paste, and then tag — or not, if one were to be clandestine about it — and repost a comment; something which in itself leads to the spread of viral activity.
Many have been caught out by social media, particularly when it comes down to commenting on their jobs or colleagues. It was only during the summer where the U.S. National Labor Relations Board had to contend with a series of cases where employees were fired over Facebook.
But the rules between the U.S. and the UK are different. Had this case presented itself in ‘the land of the free’, perhaps the outcome would have been different. A settlement earlier this year led to a ruling whereby employees could not be disciplined by their employers over the content they post on Facebook.
For younger people, however, the divide between a ‘personal Facebook’ and a ‘work Facebook’ is yet to be differentiated. Ultimately, company policies need to be put in place to ensure that all employees are not only aware of social media risks, but also the brands they represent inside and outside of the workplace.
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9 comments:
This article is very relevant to what many young professionals entering the workforce face today - that being the use and private versus public dichotomy of social networking. In general, my opinion is that while posting on one's personal social media site is in theory a private matter, public comments intentionally made to slander one's own company are grounds for termination. Anything that is written and leaves a paper trail where others can access and see this information is never the proper platform for publicizing one's feelings of distaste - especially if it is a comment aimed at an employer or boss.
Privacy (in and of itself) is eroding at an increasing pace as more and more people are joining social networking sites and accessing "personal information" for public purposes. As we all know, many employers nowadays check potentials' Facebook as part of a background check. Just as this can trigger grounds for not getting hired, in my mind it can also be used as grounds for termination. Social media is a public projection of oneself, and thus is not a private matter...even though many of us conceptualize it as such.
My initial thought to this article is that anything that comes out of your mouth (verbally or onto paper) is not longer "private." And we need to STOP treating it as such. It is a lesson to think hard before you put something into permanence. I feel sort of bad for the Facebook employee but at the same time, the company's social media policy was well laid out.
Our generation and the ones after feel a sense of validation by what we put on the internet. Maybe we feel like someone is listening that way. One thing is for sure: it's a major social shift.
I struggle with the personal Facebook and twitter issue noted at the end of the article. Just because I enjoy posting quirky movie or song quotes doesn't mean I am not a viable candidate for a job... does it? What is the point in managing two twitter accounts? Aren't we supposed to be authentic in every domain of our life?
I agree with your premise, but certainly there is a difference between posting a “quirky movie quote” and saying, “I hate my job.” Even pre-internet, if you said such a thing by the water cooler and the boss heard you, you’d probably be fired. To me, this is not really a technology issue … As John said above, “public comments intentionally made to slander one's own company are grounds for termination”. If privacy IS eroding, we are our own worst enemies.
It is simply unreasonable to assume that any comment is private when made online. Since employers will be checking us out on social media sites during the recruitment process, it is necessary to recognize that the watchful eye will not stop there.
To me, the takeaway here from the business perspective is the importance of implementing clear policies surrounding the conduct of employees within social media spaces. If Apple were unable to prove that these policies were introduced as a part of their global training process, they may have potentially lost the suit.
As an employee, it is important to never assume privacy online. As an employer, it is important to cover your bases with clear policies and strong communication from HR.
It was just ignorant of the employee to think that his comments would be private. Any comment can be shared and quoted as said by him by his friends. Companies like Apple hugely rely on their Good Will. Also, Apple relies on creating a hype about their product for a year and creating demand for its sale. Any kind of negative remarks on the product or company would highly affect their marketing.
And in this sense apple was right, and it was just naive of the employee to think that his comments would be stay private.
I tend to agree with the comments of those before me. As ProfAHK said if you were in your office talking loudly about how much you hated your boss/job/company of course they would terminate you. Even if you weren’t in your office but at a bar doing that and a co-worker over-heard you I still think you would be fired.
So what I find the most interesting is the fact that Apple has clearly begun to account for social media and monitor/moderate it from a corporate perspective. Right now it seems fairly harmless in that if you slander them you will be fired, what you’d expect anywhere. But, I’m a proponent of the belief that things like this can be the start of something greater. I would not be surprised if in the future companies begin to moderate even more. Not only can you not post negative things about the company, but then its other employees. Then, you can no longer speak out about any companies the parent company may do business with. Soon if you post yourself with a simple T-Shirt promoting any brand other than your company’s you’re in trouble. It will be interesting to see how companies continue to monitor, and moderate, their employee’s internet presence. If it will stay (what I think we all believe is fairly reasonable) where you can’t slander the company, or spiral into something significantly more controlling. Blurring the line even more between your work and personal “private” life.
I agree with John here. Although, I believe that there should be a boundary between work and private life, this is a very fine line. Where does one draw the line while expressing oneself on a social platform such as Facebook where he or she has family, friends, colleagues, and employers at the same time viewing all the content? I do believe that individuals have the right to portray themselves the way they want in a social platform, however, when this implies degrading the organization you work for or colleagues you work with it becomes a nuisance. At this point, it should be grounds for termination of one's job.I believe that it is unethical to tarnish the image of the company one represents. It is the duty of the employee to bring up any concerns or grievances he or she might have to their respective superiors instead of going on to a public platform and outright insulting the business entity you belong to. Although platforms such as Facebook can be great resources for a company, it could also spell disaster in terms of reputation. A company should thus, carefully create its social media policies and clearly communicate the same to its employees.
Similar to the school teacher who was fired for posting "private" comments on Facebook about her students, we have seen that what you think is private online can become public very quickly. It is smart to be cautious not to post something online that you will regret later, especially in regards to your employer. I feel it is common sense to treat your online postings with same principal you would apply in any public setting. That is a common misconception many online users may not be as conscious of until it is too late.
From the lawsuit perspective, Apple did have every right to fire the employee simply because the employee took the job knowing full well that what they did was prohibited. In addition, the employee was not being very smart by posting that even if it had not lead to the loss of the job. I do believe that we should not have to hide what is on Facebook just to appease current or potential employers but at the same time discretion should always be taken when mixing your social media outlet to your work. A main reason for this is that people are linked in so many different ways you never know who may see what you post and may be linked to your boss. Even apart from a job situation, I know there are websites that post situations where family members find out things about each other from Facebook not all of which are positive.
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