A sign of change for regulating employees’ internet use?
In what could be a precedent-setting decision, the National Labor Relations Board has ruled that Chipotle may no longer have a social media code of conduct. The ruling states that the fast-service food chain must cease, “Maintaining a rule entitled ‘Social Media Code of Conduct’ that prohibits employees from posting incomplete, confidential, or inaccurate information and making disparaging, false, or misleading statements.”
Why is this a potential game-changer? Social media codes of conduct are in heavy use today, in large part to allow employers to action employees who use social media to speak about their work in a negative light. In most cases this is used to prevent inappropriate actions such as disparagement of customers or spreading of outright lies about the employer. However, there’s no question that social media policies have also been used to shut down some people’s right to speak honestly about the conditions in which they work.
Now the government is now stepping in. The NLRB decision came after a Pennsylvania Chipotle worker was fired for tweeting about their low wages and circulating a petition about employee breaks online. The NLRB has since ordered Chipotle to re-hire the employee, as well as paying back wages for time missed. The hammer was actually dropped on a number of ways Chipotle attempts to control employees, to include orders that “Prohibiting employees from circulating petitions regarding the company’s adherence to its break policy or any other terms and conditions of employment.” stops immediately as well.
The issue of employee’s rights when it comes to social media has been simmering for some time, and this may be a sign that things have finally hit a boiling point. It’s a tricky situation because on the one hand we’ve seen plenty of crisis management cases where employees would have caused serious, undeserved harm to their employer through their social media posting were it not for an enforceable code of conduct. On the other hand, we have a long-standing precedent of freedom of speech, including being able to air grievances in a public arena, and an employer having too much control over what employees discuss can easily step on that right.
One thing is for certain – Chipotle won’t be the only organization to encounter action from regulators on this topic. We’d expect at least a few more dustups to occur as the sweet spot is sought out in terms of free speech vs. protecting employers. In the meantime, watch the news, stay tuned for announcements from groups like the NLRB, and work on fine-tuning your own policies to find ways to prevent negative items from being shared without setting strict “no posting about X” rules.
The BCM Blogging Team
www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com