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I recently heard a story on NBC’s Today Show about a man who wrote something on his personal blog, on his personal time, expressing his personal views, and he was fired by his employer for doing so. I was very disturbed by the report and I started thinking about how much control employers have over their employees.
How much control should an employer have over an employee’s personal life? Should an employer be able to dictate how an employee acts outside of working hours? Should an employer be able to prescribe morality, opinion, speech or action of an employee?
The man in the above referenced case is currently suing his former employer for Wrongful Termination. Should he win? What should the consequence for the employer be (if any)?
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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5 comments:
An employee is a representative of the company he or she works for. If he or she posted something on his or her blog that may have misrepresented the company, then I think it's justified for the employer to bring it up to the employee and for both of them to reach a mutual agreement of how to make things right again.
We are representatives or ambassadors of Christ and to him we must give account. Whatever we do or say-whether in public or private-we are the voice of Jesus to an unsaved world. In a similar way, if we work for a company, we, in a sense, belong to that company and we are representatives or ambassadors of that company. Our actions and words should support who our allegiences are to. Otherwise, we should align ourselves to someone or something else. A blog should not be used as a "convenient" public vehicle to speak out against someone or something that you wouldn't be willing to say face to face.
I think if he was talking disrespectfully about his boss or his company, and named said boss or company, then the company has every right to terminate his employment for insubordination.
However, if it was about his personal beiefs that had nothing to do with his job, then they are completely wrong.
What I find so interesting is that we all take the moral high road when answering a broad question. But I would like to ask a more personal question. How many of us have complained about our bosses or co-workers because we were treated unfairly or with disrespect? I think that we have a double standard. I think some people think it is ok to complain verbally just not in writing. We should be honest, everyone of us has had a bad day and spoken to freely. This subject certainly leaves us with alot to think about
I think that if someone has an issue with their boss, they should take it up with their boss. It's really nobody else's business.
To the individual talking about "taking the moral high road,"
I firmly believe what I wrote about not talking bad about your employer or boss on your blog.
I don't go out in public bad-mouthing my employer, not ever. No one should. If I have something to say about my employer I will discuss it with my husband, or possibly co-workers, but never the general public. If I have a problem with my boss, I discuss with my husband first, to use him as a sounding board to find out if there is a real problem or if I am making too big a deal about something. If I have a legitimate problem with my boss, I discuss it with her.
I don't think anyone should go out there and say "I work for company XYZ and my boss is John Doe and they are terrible." I don't think it is right, nor is it professional.
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