FACEBOOK FREE SPEECH

Feel free to talk smack about your job on Facebook AND keep your job--even if you've "friend" your boss.

A federal labor agency has ruled that Facebook postings are protected by free speech.  And, the Feds ruled that if an employer monitors (i.e. keeping a record in the employee's file) a worker's postings that is equal to union- busting.

In what labor officials and lawyers view as a ground-breaking case involving workers and social media, the National Labor Relations Board has accused a company of illegally firing an employee after she criticized her supervisor on her Facebook page. This is the first case in which the labor board has stepped in to argue that workers’ criticisms of their bosses or companies on a social networking site are generally a protected activity and that employers would be violating the law by punishing workers for such statements. [snip]

But employees might cross the line into unprotected territory if they disparage supervisors over something unrelated to work — for instance, a supervisor’s sexual performance — or if their statements are disloyal. Courts often view workers’ statements as disloyal when they are defamatory and are not supported by facts. Mr. Babson cited a case upholding the firing of airline workers who held signs saying their airline was unsafe. But, he said, if employees held signs accurately saying their airline or restaurant had been cited for dozens of safety violations, that would most likely be protected.   via newyorktimes

WORK!!

Feel free to cut and paste on your Facebook wall what we wrote below; let's see if the ruling really protects your job (replace stars with real workplace name):

We work at ******, those bitches!! And,  the boss is a fucking idiot, a monkey can do that job. And those morons=clients that come in.... cheap- ass motherfuckers......