Читать книгу Employment Law Update - Jonathan Ingber - Страница 37

The internet is ubiquitous in today's workplace but continues to present employment law challenges. For example, is personal use of workplace internet permitted or prohibited? What about downloads from the internet? Is there a dividing line between downloading inoffensive material and offensive material? Can an employer regulate the contents of the employee's computer or discipline the employee for having unauthorized or personal information on a company computer?

Closely related to the internet is, of course, social media. Social media is now used by hundreds of millions of people across the globe and its use in many countries is considered an inalienable right. That right poses some interesting questions, however. Is an employee permitted to say anything about a supervisor on social media? How are free speech rights treated in cyberspace? Does an employer have a right to access the social media of an employee or applicant? When can an employer discipline an employee for social media postings?

The courts, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB),¹ the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and the Department of Labor (DOL) continue to battle with these and related issues. Although prior court cases and regulatory decisions may be of some value in analyzing employment issues in cyberspace (for example, free speech decisions), changes in the availability of information and its ease of access have and will continue to pose complex questions for employers.