• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Neal Schaffer-Social Media Speaker, Author, Consultant, Educator and InfluencerNeal Schaffer-Social Media Speaker, Author, Consultant, Educator and Influencer

Maximize Your Social at the official site of social media keynote speaker Neal Schaffer

  • Meet Neal
  • Influencer Marketing
  • Speaking
  • Consulting
  • Books
  • Blog
  • Hire Neal
  • Nav Social Menu

    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • RSS
    • Email

Social Media and the Law

Employee's Facebook Posts Are Protected – There Is A Twist

Employee's Facebook Posts Are Protected - There Is A Twist

The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) continues to issue rulings regarding employee use of social media in the workplace.  As detailed in many prior posts, the NLRB enforces the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) which covers employers (unionized or not).  As described in those prior posts, the NLRB often finds that employees who post comments…

Read More »

Can Employers Require Employee Engagement/Advocacy?

Can Employers Require Employee Engagement/Advocacy?

Employee advocacy and/or engagement has been all the rage for a few years now.  It makes sense.  Having a fleet of employees engaged in social media to promote their employer is a tremendous asset.  Most of those employees willingly participate, share, “like” and otherwise promote their employers on social media.  However, what if an employee…

Read More »

Social Media Evidence in Workplace Investigations: Snapchat Challenges

Social Media Evidence in Workplace Investigations: Snapchat Challenges

Most people use social media platforms to send messages to a large audience and to memorialize events through comments, pictures, and videos.  Indeed, businesses push for more and longer exposure, better “SEO”, and more employee engagement with social media to promote the business on Facebook, Instragram, YouTube and other platforms.  Snapchat, however, is unlike those…

Read More »

U.S. EEOC Recognizes Social Media's Role In Workplace Harassment

U.S. EEOC Recognizes Social Media's Role In Workplace Harassment

Even though sexual harassment in the workplace has been prohibited by a federal law for thirty years, recently the United States has had several highly publicized sexual harassment complaints at very well-known employers including a public university (University of California, Berkeley), a national news organization (Fox News), a national park (Yosemite National Park), and a…

Read More »

Top Reasons Employees Use Social Media At Work

Top Reasons Employees Use Social Media At Work

It is no secret that social media is accessible almost everywhere, and each day millions of people are on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media platforms.  While most only assumed that employees were also using social media while at work (even when their employers may have policies prohibiting such use at work), a recent…

Read More »

Who Owns LinkedIn Group Page Information: Employer or Employee?

Who Owns LinkedIn Group Page Information: Employer or Employee?

Litigation is usually not an enjoyable process for any party in the lawsuit.  And, it is even more frustrating when litigation could have been avoided with some simple pre-planning and attention to details.  This is particularly true with respect to litigation regarding ownership of social media contacts, profiles, and groups. Take for example the recent…

Read More »

Employee Fired For Facebook Photos; Loses Court Case

Employee Fired For Facebook Photos; Loses Court Case

A man in Florida lost his job because he went on vacation.  After he sued his employer, he also lost his lawsuit.  His Facebook photos were at the center of his lawsuit, and the employer was found to have acted lawfully.  Here is what the employee did wrong, and what the employer did right: Background:…

Read More »

Using Social Media In Hiring Employees: A Refresher

Using Social Media In Hiring Employees: A Refresher

Using social media in the recruiting and hiring process of employee candidates has become routine these days.  With the start of the new year, many employers have developed strategic plans to expand and increase their workforce.  Before diving right into a massive hiring effort, employers should review the following keys to using social media within…

Read More »

3 Necessary Steps to Protect Your Trademarks on Social Media

3 Necessary Steps to Protect Your Trademarks on Social Media

Your intellectual property sets your company apart from its competitors. Your name, logo, website, marketing materials, and business strategy are therefore amongst your valuable most assets. But are they protected from social media legal risks? Startups, websites, and applications are being created faster than any time in history. These new competitors are looking to find…

Read More »

Firing an Employee for Something Friends Posted on Facebook?

Firing an Employee for Something They Posted on Facebook?

It is no longer uncommon to see articles and blog posts about employees who have lost their jobs due to a foolish Facebook post; unprofessional behavior shared on a YouTube video or other social media mishap.  Recently, however, an employee in Atlanta, Georgia was not fired for his own Facebook post of a picture, but…

Read More »

Social Media Legal Risks for Financial Institutions

Social Media Legal Risks for Financial Institutions

A financial institution’s social media engagement can attract new customers and increases community engagement, but it can create exposure to serious legal risks. Without implementing a social media risk management program, financial institutions can experience compliance and legal risk that can result in lawsuits, regulatory investigations audits, and enforcement actions. This can significantly impact the…

Read More »

Employers: Guidance to Refine Social Media Policies

Employers: Guidance to Refine Social Media Policies

Employers, how often is your company’s Employee Handbook updated?  How often are your employee conduct and social media policies reviewed for compliance with the law?  At the very least, hopefully these policies and documents are reviewed and updated annually.  Once a year, however, may no longer be frequent enough.  The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)…

Read More »

How Do Advertising Laws Apply to Social Media?

How Do Advertising Laws Apply to Social Media?

Consumers spend time on Facebook than any other website on the planet. More than Google. More than Yahoo! It therefore follows that we should be engaging consumers by promoting our products and services on social media. It’s no secret that by engaging consumers through social media promotions, we can grow our social influence and reach,…

Read More »

Do You Have Legal Consent to Post Employee Photos on Company Websites or Social Media?

Do You Have Legal Consent to Post Employee Photos on Social Media?

Do you have legal consent posting employee pictures on company websites or social media? Publishing employee photos without consent might be against the law. Read on for the reasons why. Smart companies take a holistic approach to their social media marketing efforts.  With so much emphasis these days on harnessing employees to promote their employers…

Read More »

The Legal Risk and Reward of Using Social Media

The Legal Risk and Reward of Using Social Media

My grandfather once told me that everything good in life could also be bad. That there are two sides to every coin. And how it all depends on your perspective. Okay, I just made that up. My grandfather mostly talked about how in his day, he had to walk to school, barefoot, in the snow,…

Read More »

BEWARE! How To Get Fired For LinkedIn Activities

BEWARE! How To Get Fired For LinkedIn Activities

Do you have a LinkedIn profile?  If so, do you update it regularly?  Do you participate in LinkedIn Group discussions and publish posts on LinkedIn?  Do you perform these activities because YOU want to, or because your employer wants you to? If you are an active user of LinkedIn  because your employer requires, or highly…

Read More »

How Social Media Affects the Law

How Social Media Affects the Law

Social media is destroying the legal system. It is tearing at the fabric of our laws. Manipulating our fundamental rights. And eroding our justice system. In five years it will cause the downfall of society, trigger the apocalypse, and set forth a series of catastrophic events that will destroy our planet. Okay, maybe that was…

Read More »

Firing Employee Who Made Vulgar Posts Violated the Law

Firing Employee Who Made Vulgar Posts Violated the Law

Pier Sixty, LLC is a catering company in Manhattan, New York.  Not too long ago, some of Pier Sixty’s employees were concerned that company management repeatedly treated them disrespectfully and in an undignified manner.  As a result, the employees began to express interest in union representation. On October 25, 2011, Hernan Perez, an employee of…

Read More »

Employee Fired After Facebook Posts Claiming Sexual Harassment

Employee Fired After Facebook Posts Claiming Sexual Harassment

In 2014, the United States Supreme Court declined to review an interesting case involving an employee who was fired after she posted on Facebook that her supervisor “needs to keep his creepy [sic] hands to himself…just an all around d-bag.” After she made this, and a few other posts on Facebook, Sara Debord’s comments were…

Read More »

Employees' Tweets Lead to FTC Enforcement

Employees' Tweets Lead to FTC Enforcement

Employer vs. Employee: Ownership of LinkedIn Contacts

Employer vs. Employee:  Ownership of LinkedIn Contacts

Recently, someone suggested to me that an employee’s LinkedIn contacts could be considered company property and even a protected trade secret of the employer.  And, therefore, when an employee, who has previously been given access to this contact information, leaves the employer, the employee is required to relinquish those contacts, and perhaps the entire LinkedIn…

Read More »

Cell Phone Expenses: Next Wave of Employee Class Action Lawsuit?

Cell Phone Expenses: Next Wave of Employee Class Action Lawsuit?

A new breed of class action lawsuit involving employee use of personal cell phones for work is developing in California and may “go viral.”  California is often known as the birthplace of many new trends that eventually spread throughout the country.  Of course, many social media companies are based in California, and high-tech gadgets are…

Read More »

5 Employment Law Considerations for Employee Advocacy

5 Employment Law Considerations for Employee Advocacy

Recognizing that their own employees are often their best ambassadors, businesses in many industries have been focusing on “employee advocacy” for marketing, business development and public relations. Neal Schaffer has written about, and provided excellent insight into, developing employee advocacy strategies. Other authors have also written about employee advocacy, however, rarely do these articles discuss…

Read More »

US Supreme Court Case Impacts Social Media and Employment Law

US Supreme Court Case Impacts Social Media and Employment Law

Back in February 2013, I wrote about an appellate court that ruled that President Obama’s appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) were unconstitutional.  That case was appealed to the United States Supreme Court, and on June 26, 2014, the Supreme Court issued its decision in the case of National Labor Relations Board v….

Read More »

The Biggest Social Media Risk for Employers

The Biggest Social Media Risk for Employers

Is your business, or your employer, proactively addressing the most significant risks regarding the misuse of social media in the workplace? Results from a recent survey of more than 110 businesses from around the world confirm some widely-held beliefs about how employers are dealing with social media in the workplace.  Importantly, the survey also revealed…

Read More »

The U.S. EEOC Turns Its Attention To Social Media in the Workplace

The U.S. EEOC Turns Its Attention To Social Media in the Workplace

The law surrounding social media in the workplace still lags a long way behind the ubiquitous use of social media.  While the U.S. National Labor Relations Board, and a few state legislatures and courts have been fairly active, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) is only now, finally, openly examining the many legal issues regarding…

Read More »

Can "Social Media" and "Confidentiality" Co-exist in the Workplace?

Can "Social Media" and "Confidentiality" Co-exist in the Workplace?

By its definition, “social media” focuses on communication, spreading the word, engaging readers, sharing, creating discussion and/or gaining attention.  And, humans have striven to perfect and master communication with others for centuries.  Even Wikipedia’s explanation of “social media” points out that “one of the first signs of human social media was cave wall paintings.”  Today, electronic social…

Read More »

Social Media and Workplace Romances

Social Media and Workplace Romances

Do the words “workplace” and “romance” go together? What are some of the pitfalls with intimate relationships in the workplace? How does social media affect these romances and workplaces? In anticipation of Valentine’s Day, this article focuses on relationships in the workplace, and what employers and employees should consider when falling in love (or having…

Read More »

Employers and Employees Could Be Liable For Texting On The Job

Employers and Employees Could Be Liable For Texting On The Job

Texting, like email, Facebook posts and videos can get employees and employers into trouble.  The most common situations involve harassment, discrimination, and violations of confidentiality provisions.  However, because of a recent lawsuit in New Jersey, anyone who texts or emails another individual should now beware of the potential of being held liable when a recipient…

Read More »

New Password Protection Laws In the Workplace

New Password Protection Laws In the Workplace

Did you know that a new social media password protection law went into effect on October 1, 2013?  And, do you know that two more similar laws will go into effect December 1, 2013 and January 1, 2014? These new laws apply to employers and employees in the states of Nevada, New Jersey, and Oregon,…

Read More »

Social Media in the Workplace: 5 Reasons to Not Friend Co-Workers

Social Media in the Workplace: 5 Reasons to Not Friend Co-Workers

Can you ever have too many “friends?” The answer is “yes,” if you indiscriminately accept and/or initiate friend requests with your co-workers and supervisors on your personal social media accounts. Companies too, should counsel managers and supervisors regarding some of the pitfalls in “friending” co-workers, and especially subordinates. In my post of January 9, 2013,…

Read More »

5 Tips On Job Transitions and Social Media Profile Management

5 Tips On Job Transitions and Social Media Profile Management

Advice for Employers and Employees on Social Media Profile Management when Changing Jobs Last month, I wrote about some social media issues employees and employers face concerning non-solicitation agreements when an employee leaves one company and joins another.  In those situations, the departing employee is typically excited about his or her new job, and is…

Read More »

Social Media in the Workplace: 6 Tips Regarding Non-Solicitation Agreements

Social Media in the Workplace:  6 Tips Regarding Non-Solicitation Agreements

Companies want to protect their assets, including their trade secrets, their client/customer lists, and the company’s most important asset:  its own workforce.  Companies invest significant resources to on-board new employees, put them through orientations, training sessions, retreats, and of course, provide them with salaries, commissions, benefits and other perks.  They also become privy to confidential…

Read More »

Where Does Information Disclosure Start and End in Social Media?

Where Does Information Disclosure Start and End in Social Media?

Social media is driving more content to virtually every digital nook and cranny around the globe, with the velocity of a fire hose on a lit match.  So it’s only ironic that the U.S. government recently called a well-known corporate executive on the carpet for disclosing (actually more like gushing) some positive news on Facebook…

Read More »

Employers: More Employees With Personal Mobile Devices Means More Problems In The Workplace

Employers: More Employees With Personal Mobile Devices Means More Problems In The Workplace

Black Friday and Cyber Monday have come and gone.  Shoppers are buying Smartphones, mini iPads, iPhones, Kindle Fires, and other gadgets at a record pace.  But what happens when employees decide to bring these shiny new toys into the workplace to show their friends and coworkers?  Worse, what happens when an employee tries to use…

Read More »

First "Facebook Firing" Decision Issued by the National Labor Relations Board

First "Facebook Firing" Decision Issued by the National Labor Relations Board

I’ve written about the importance of the National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB”) role in social media and employment law several times.  Usually, my posts describe how the NLRB and its General Counsel are finding employer practices or policies to be unlawful.  In its first decision regarding a “Facebook firing,” the NLRB surprisingly rules for the…

Read More »

Employers: New California Law and New NLRB Decision On Social Media

Employers: New California Law and New NLRB Decision On Social Media

September was a rather busy month for new developments regarding social media in the workplace.  In early September, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) issued its decision regarding various employee policies of Costco Wholesale Corp.  This is the first time the NLRB has issued a decision on many policies that typically appear in a company’s…

Read More »

Social Media Privacy in The Workplace: Is There Any?

Social Media Privacy in The Workplace: Is There Any?

But what about my right to privacy?  Employment lawyers hear this question a lot.  We hear it when an employee is being questioned about his internet use at work.  We hear it when an employee gets caught posting about how much fun it is being at a baseball game on a day she called in…

Read More »

From Ill-Advised to Illegal: Employers Face New Laws On Social Media Monitoring

From Ill-Advised to Illegal: Employers Face New Laws On Social Media Monitoring

Everyday, things are getting more and more complicated out there for employers.  As you may recall (indeed, how could you forget?), earlier this year the media shined a bright spotlight on a small number of employers (and I truly mean just a small few) who were reportedly asking for social media passwords from job seekers,…

Read More »

Employers Be Cautious Using Social Media To Screen Job Applicants

Employers Be Cautious Using Social Media To Screen Job Applicants

Recently, there has been “much ado” over some employers seeking Facebook password and login information from job applicants.  While this practice just recently caught the media’s attention, the reality is employers have been using social media to investigate job applicants for years.  For example, in 2011, Reppler, a social media monitoring service, conducted a survey…

Read More »

More Thoughts on "Does My Employer Own My LinkedIn Profile?"

Since I posted about the topic of who owns what in social media from the perspective of an employee’s LinkedIn profile, I have been humbled by both the number of people visiting my blog as well as others that have re-tweeted about my blog on Twitter and elsewhere.  Based on the comments I have received…

Read More »

My LinkedIn Profile: Does My Employer Own It?

business, technology and office concept - older man and young man having argument in office

The following story of LinkedIn Profile ownership is a true one, and as with my other blog posts, I am hoping to get your feedback as to what the “right” answer to this question should be. Imagine that you began a job as a recruiter.  Part of your job is, obviously, building out a network….

Read More »

Primary Sidebar

FOLLOW ME!

Follows
  • Twitter
    222k Followers
  • LinkedIn
    40.8k Followers
  • Pinterest
    29.8k Followers
  • Instagram
    16.3k Followers
  • Facebook
    10.7k Followers
  • YouTube
    244 Followers

COME SEE ME SPEAK LIVE!

COME SEE ME SPEAK LIVE!

PRE-ORDER MY NEW BOOK!

PRE-ORDER MY NEW BOOK!

LOOKING TO BETTER LEVERAGE LINKEDIN?

LOOKING TO BETTER LEVERAGE LINKEDIN?

LEARN THE LATEST ABOUT INFLUENCER MARKETING

LEARN THE LATEST ABOUT INFLUENCER MARKETING

USE THE SOCIAL MEDIA DASHBOARD THAT I USE!

USE THE SOCIAL MEDIA DASHBOARD THAT I USE!

ABOUT NEAL

Neal Schaffer is a leader in helping educate executives and professionals on social media as well as in implementing successful social media strategies for businesses. CEO of the social media agency PDCA Social, social media educator at Rutgers University and the Irish Management Institute, social media keynote speaker who has spoken at hundreds of events on four continents, and author of three social media books, Neal is a true innovator and influencer in the growing world of social media for business.

SEARCH THIS SITE

CATEGORIES

  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube
  • RSS
  • Email

Join my newsletter!

Nealschaffer

Subscribe to get my latest content by email as soon as I publish it.

Success! I'll send you updates as soon as I publish them!

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

Don't worry: You can unsubscribe at any time. Powered by ConvertKit

Footer

Neal Schaffer

About Neal Schaffer
Influencer Marketing Services
Social Media Speaker
Social Media Consulting
Social Media Books
Neal's Social Media Blog Posts
Neal's Social Media Podcast
Social Media Center of Excellence
Hire Neal
Write for This Blog

Popular Blog Categories

Instagram Marketing
Twitter Marketing
LinkedIn
Facebook Marketing
Content Marketing
Social Media Tools
Influencer Marketing
YouTube & Video Marketing
WeChat and China Social Media
Social Media for Nonprofits
Social Media Strategy

Free Ebooks

Maximizing LinkedIn for Business
How AI is Revolutionizing Influencer Marketing
How to Build an Employee Advocacy Program
Focused Social Selling
The Social Media Tools for Business Guide

More Social Media Resources

Recommended Social Media Books
Recommended Social Media Resources - Apps, Tools & More!
Recommended Social Media Conferences
Recommended WordPress Plugins

Search This Site

Follow Me

Follows
  • Twitter
    222k Followers
  • LinkedIn
    40.8k Followers
  • Pinterest
    29.8k Followers
  • Instagram
    16.3k Followers
  • Facebook
    10.7k Followers
  • YouTube
    244 Followers

© 2008–2019 Windmills Marketing · Privacy Policy · Terms & Conditions · Contact

https://nealschaffer.com/author/nealschaffer/