• "Social Network Policy" - Corporate privacy vs. Freedom of speech
    18 replies, posted
Hoping this is worthy of a debate. As part of my retail job application, I had to acknowledge the "social network policy" of my employer which states that I'm not allowed to discuss the store essentially in a negative way. (I'm pretty sure making this thread actually constitutes as a violation of the policy, funnily enough). Any sort of complaints or comments that portray the company in any way other than a positive manner, if they catch you that is, results in getting either a warning, being written up, or at the very worse termination. Example of the policy in force: I was told a story of some employees shortly before I was hired whom were joking around near the intimates department and one of them took a photograph of a coworker with some panties on his head. The picture made it to Facebook where somehow management found out. All the employees were written up on the matter, even a coworker who was in the photo but just watching. Personally, I think it's absurd that I can't complain about my job every now and then. I can understand wanting to keep a good image of the company with happy workers, but I seriously doubt even those with their dream jobs have no bad days at work and wish to blow off steam to their friends and family. Last Christmas season I posted on my Facebook, "I suppose it's healthy for every company to have at least one manager with his head up his ass" as a complaint about the previous day's stress and I was told by several coworkers that I ought to take it down or risk being in trouble. I didn't take it down nor get in trouble but I do not like being told what I can and cannot say about my job in the privacy of my own little group of friends and family. I should reserve the right to speak my own opinions where I want, to whom I want. Just for clarity's sake, I do love my job very much and it's the most enjoyable one I've had thus far in life but this little thing gets under my skin thinking about it sometimes.
I think most companies have this in some form. You represent the company, and they don't want you to portray it in a negative image, which makes sense at least.
[QUOTE=thelurker1234;45988392]Honestly it depends on the extent, but I think most companies have this in some form. You represent the company, and they don't want you to portray it in a negative image, which makes sense at least.[/QUOTE] Even off the clock? I'm a part time employee with zero benefits making just over minimum wage. I don't personally feel I represent the company in any kind of attached way a manager or supervisor would.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;45988405]Even off the clock? I'm a part time employee with zero benefits making just over minimum wage. I don't personally feel I represent the company in any kind of attached way a manager or supervisor would.[/QUOTE] In the example you posted, it can be assumed that the employees joking around were doing so during working time instead of actually working. That creates the image of incompetent management in that store, which may or may not be reflective on the management culture of the entire brand. You may not feel like you represent it, but every action or statement made that is relevant to your employer is a representation of it to everyone else. If you're in uniform, you obviously identify with that company. Even when you're not in uniform and instead bitching about it on social media, you're still representing the company as observers will draw an association between you and the company if it is obvious that you are an employee of that company. When you're being negative about your company, observers will create a negative correlation with the company as well. No business wants this. You can complain about your work in person, sure even I do that sometimes. But when you post on social media you're posting it in the public sphere rather than the private sphere. Also you don't really have the right to freedom of speech in these matters, I thought that the concept of freedom of speech in the US was only really to prevent only governments from regulating that freedom? Hell, not even public schools in the US have freedom of speech for their students if I recall correctly. [editline]16th September 2014[/editline] Just because you earn close to minimum wage doesn't give you an excuse to bitch about how bad your company is in public.
[QUOTE=Antdawg;45990608] Just because you earn close to minimum wage doesn't give you an excuse to bitch about how bad your company is in public.[/QUOTE] So, is the critique of your work place is a privilege rather than a right?
[QUOTE=gufu;45991045]So, is the critique of your work place is a privilege rather than a right?[/QUOTE] Even if you earned a $1 million salary that certainly wouldn't give you an excuse to bitch about your workplace. The point is that no one has an excuse to bitch about their workplace in public (social media) because it's reflective on the company.
[QUOTE=Antdawg;45991137]Even if you earned a $1 million salary that certainly wouldn't give you an excuse to bitch about your workplace. The point is that no one has an excuse to bitch about their workplace in public (social media) because it's reflective on the company.[/QUOTE] And if the company is legitimately shitty?
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;45991513]And if the company is legitimately shitty?[/QUOTE] Hey man, you work for them. As an employee of the company, you are a representative of the company. If you paint the company in a negative way in public, the company will take reasonable steps to discipline you and control the damage you caused to their reputation. The company wouldn't want its employees telling potential customers that the company sucks, that's bad for business. If the company is legitimately shitty, then leave. Else just suck it up, because as an employee you have a duty to ensure that your actions contribute to the company being as successful as possible. If you have a problem, take it up with management or the union.
Pseudonyms are a godsend. If you want to talk shit about your company, provided you don't reveal any personally identifying information about you, there's a very good chance that you'll get away with it to some degree. If you're forced to hand over an account that will be "inspected", you can use an account with your real stuff, and just not talk about anything involving the company on said account, and then unload as much as you want on the pseudonym.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;45991513]And if the company is legitimately shitty?[/QUOTE] Quit the job then. You can also just keep quiet, or rant about it through an anonymous online account. Such as via facepunch.
[QUOTE=Antdawg;45991758]Hey man, you work for them. As an employee of the company, you are a representative of the company. If you paint the company in a negative way in public, the company will take reasonable steps to discipline you and control the damage you caused to their reputation. The company wouldn't want its employees telling potential customers that the company sucks, that's bad for business. If the company is legitimately shitty, then leave. Else just suck it up, because as an employee you have a duty to ensure that your actions contribute to the company being as successful as possible. If you have a problem, take it up with management or the union.[/QUOTE] I'm a representative of the company when I'm on the clock, wearing my nametag and lanyard. Outside of work, it's my time to say what I wish. And what if I can't get a better job? [editline]16th September 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=thelurker1234;45991945]Quit the job then. You can also just keep quiet, or rant about it through an anonymous online account. Such as via facepunch.[/QUOTE] Yes, I could. But that's not the point of the thread or the debate. It's whether it's right or not that I should have to, if I want to complain, anonymously.
It should be outright illegal. What you say on your own time is your perogative, and you should be allowed to rant about things without fear of reprisal. Or, if necessary, make light a company's bad practices, as the quickest way to change them is to let the public know.
[QUOTE=TestECull;45998655]It should be outright illegal. What you say on your own time is your perogative, and you should be allowed to rant about things without fear of reprisal. Or, if necessary, make light a company's bad practices, as the quickest way to change them is to let the public know.[/QUOTE] And why should they not be allowed to punish or fire you for doing so? You have potential to actively harm the company, and yet they still have to keep paying you?
Personally I side with having freedom of speech and that these sort of restrictions need to be heavily relaxed. They can be very easily abused to the point of "you said something remotely bad about the company, therefore you're fired", when I would argue that in a greater majority of situations, there's a based claim that would require looking into. Most people aren't going to make entirely baseless accusations of a company (at least, I want to hope they wouldn't), though they may exaggerate the issue. If someone is complaining, it should be looked into, not silenced. If it's found that they're baselessly bashing or over-exaggerating the issue, then sure, reprimand them for it. But at the same time, if your job sucks, your job sucks. You should have the right to complain about it. If you're going to tell someone to suck up their crappy job and deal with it, then you can also turn around and tell the company to suck up the complaints and deal with it because they're the ones making the job so crappy in the first place. The other thing is I can see this very easily being twisted into something that never had to deal with the company itself in the first place. People who work food, retail, or are otherwise dealing with the public on a constant basis are going to have bad customers. Complaining about customers is not complaining about the company, and is not complaining about them while representing the company (unless you're going through official channels like a company's facebook, twitter, etc.). You shouldn't be able to be reprimanded for that except in specific circumstances (like naming the bad customer, going completely overboard, etc.).
[QUOTE=Antdawg;45991758]Hey man, you work for them. As an employee of the company, you are a representative of the company. If you paint the company in a negative way in public, the company will take reasonable steps to discipline you and control the damage you caused to their reputation. The company wouldn't want its employees telling potential customers that the company sucks, that's bad for business. If the company is legitimately shitty, then leave. Else just suck it up, because as an employee you have a duty to ensure that your actions contribute to the company being as successful as possible. If you have a problem, take it up with management or the union.[/QUOTE] As an employee you are a representative of the company while on the clock. Not necessarily while off the clock. A Company should not become, nor have such pervasive control over someone's private life, because it's much easier for a company to continue being shit while threatening it's employee's with termination if they legitimately bitch about the company being shit than a company who actually strives to treat it's workers nice. And there's a difference between complaining about things that are illegitimate and complaining about things that the company actually does, eg. "Oh I can't help you because I actually have to work, it sucks that i'm working that day." to "The Company's managers are treating us like shit and we can't speak about it when we're off the clock."
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;45997351]Yes, I could. But that's not the point of the thread or the debate. It's whether it's right or not that I should have to, if I want to complain, anonymously.[/QUOTE] You have the right to say what you want, just like they have the right to get rid of you and find a better person for the job.
[QUOTE=GeeOhDee;46027978]You have the right to say what you want, just like they have the right to get rid of you and find a better person for the job.[/QUOTE] Complaining about a job doesn't necessarily mean one is a bad worker.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;46029983]Complaining about a job doesn't necessarily mean one is a bad worker.[/QUOTE] Just because one isn't a bad worker doesn't necessarily mean one can't taint the image of their employer and harm business.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;45988405]Even off the clock? I'm a part time employee with zero benefits making just over minimum wage. I don't personally feel I represent the company in any kind of attached way a manager or supervisor would.[/QUOTE] Yep, even off the clock. Though generally this for most companies is only sanctionable if it directly impacts the company in some way. Basically they can see it as a breach of trust between an employer and an employee. As a far more extreme case - imagine I find some company secret. And outside of my worktime I sell it to someone else. That is in itself a breach of trust as well, albeit a far more extreme one.
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