Social Media has become largely accepted to be in some ways integrated our daily lives on the one hand, but then on the other- a seperation or distinction between the two still largely appears to exsist in some strikingly obvious ways...
The company held a private disciplinary meeting yesterday over the message posted by Julie Tyler, 27, which was brought to her manager's attention by another employee. At the meeting her employers decided that rather than being sacked, she would be given a second final warning.
Ms Tyler was already on her final warning after receiving two previous complaints, including one for telling an abusive customer, "Like you need it". Ms Tyler told the Otago Daily Times she was relieved to keep her job and stood by her comments saying it was about "freedom of speech".
Unite national director Mike Treen said the matter was an important public policy matter. "Young workers communicate via Facebook today as others in the past exchanged words about their jobs socially over a drink. In any case the comment is innocuous and simply repeats what every New Zealanders know about fast-food jobs," he said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10704943
In this particular case, particularly with an industry that has such strong Union involvement, the debate revolves around the nature of what was said on Facebook, rather than the fact that it was an online medium that the comment was said in...
Lowe said companies were increasingly approaching EMA with problems arising from employees using social media, such as workers making negative comments about their employers on their social networking pages.
"What we have been dealing with more recently is former employees who make their views known [online] as they depart under unhappy circumstances," he said. The situation was more difficult when a former employee decided to make a social media attack on a former workplace, but Lowe said a simple phone call, and a request for the comment to be removed, could solve the situation.
"Before bringing in the lawyers ... before going too far, that can be the first step," he said.
Lowe said employees' use of social media had the ability to damage a firm's reputation, and was an area where the usual clauses in employment agreements and "house rules" sometimes did not apply.
"When [the employment agreements] were written social networking wasn't really thought of." But he said the loss of productivity from employees using social media was not a big issue.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10625739 By Christopher Adams
Employer settles with Facebooker who called boss 'dick': Social network = public forum | By Dan Goodin in San Francisco
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/02/09/employer_settles_with_facebooker/ | Posted in Music and Media, 9th February 2011 04:00 GMT