Question: To what extent can I use what I find on social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, in disciplining employees?
The answer to your question depends on various factors, including the posts’ contents, whether and to what extent they affect your workplace, and how you came to view or learn about them.
Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) protects employees’ concerted activity if it is undertaken for the mutual aid or protection of other employees. That is, if a group of employees is posting information or engaging in a “group chat” on social media about certain topics such as wages, working conditions, workplace safety, or other employment terms and conditions, you cannot discipline or punish them for that activity. Section 7 does not, however, protect employees who posted negative comments directed toward their employer’s customer or reflective of their employer’s brand or business.
