Firing an employee for negative comments on social media will depend on whether the firm has a social media policy and the kind of the post made by the employee. When a company has a social media policy stating what employees can post and what they are not allowed and all the employees are made aware of such policies, then making a post that is against the social media policies can lead to a legal and ethical grounds for firing. The policy must state what the company expects of the employees regarding their social media use. The policy must also cover the consequences of breaching the policy. In such a case, the employer can have the legal and moral grounds to fire an employee who voluntarily violates the policy of the firm. Without a social media policy, then it becomes morally wrong and illegal to fire an employee based on their social media post as this violates their rights.
The ability to fire an employee is also determined by the kind of the post even if there is a social media policy. Firing an employee for social media posts that are protected violates the labor laws and the rights of the employee. An example of a case where the employer does not have a legal right to fire the employee for social media post is the discussion of work conditions of colleagues or discussion of anything that is within the rights of the employees. Employers are expected to be too restrictive with their social media policy and are not legally allowed to ban employees from discussing issues such as poor work conditions, discrimination or harassment in the workplace because these are protected activities. Employers can, therefore, find themselves in the breach of the law when they fire employees for posting negative comments about activities that are protected by the labor laws.
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