Facebook posting : i hate my stupid boss - Essay Example

Social Media and the Workplace Using social media in daily life, whether at home or even at work, has become a way of life for employers and their employees. While most companies have embraced the use of social media within and outside the setting of a workplace, social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs, YouTube, among others, remain a double-edged sword with both risks and opportunities. Nevertheless, it is important for companies to come up with social media policies aimed at regulating social media use within and out of the work place.

In effect, there will be minimum issues resulting to embarrassments or even legal actions against employees due to the use of social media. In a study conducted by DLA Piper, a third of employees have instituted disciplinary measures on their employees regarding an issue they had posted on social media. In the same study, 21% of employers in the study had given their employees a warning regarding derogatory posts related to the workplace. In this regard, the Facebook post published by Hernandez deserves disciplinary measures from an employer perspective since she used derogatory language amounting to insults and showed contempt to her senior, which amounts to insulting her employer.

Furthermore, Hernandez could have used other ways of dealing with conflicts that arose in the workplace using the laid out company policy on the dispute and conflict resolution. However, she chose the wrong platform to address and raise her conflicts knowing that her employer, represented by Williams in this case, would see the Facebook post. On the other hand, Hernandez was ethically wrong while posting such derogatory language from an employee perspective. In this case, she failed to follow the employee ethics by sharing her experiences at work with other people who are not part of the company.

In effect, she was wrong to post work related issues outside the workplace, and a warning or other disciplinary measures will suffice in this case. From a legal perspective, it is important to point out that Hernandez can have a day in a court of law for use derogatory language, and there are legal precedents on the same. In one instance noted by DLA Piper, JD Wetherspoons Plc dismissed an employee who posted inappropriate information regarding an altercation the employee had with customers (DPL Piper).

Therefore, the employer acted inappropriately, and it amounted to gross misconduct of an employee, which could lead to subsequent dismissal. Conversely, this Hernandez’s Facebook post amounts to a gross misconduct, which has legal implications that could result to eventual dismissal. Williams was right in accepting the friendship invitation on Facebook from Hernandez. In this case, it is common knowledge that a friend is an individual known well to another, and they regard each other with trust and affection.

By virtual of having been in the same high school, and at times attending the same classes; the two had known each other well for a while. In addition, the relationship became tighter after they learned they worked in the same company. Therefore, Williams was right to accept the friendship invitation from Hernandez. All factors considered, the right course of action for Williams to take would be to institute disciplinary action on Hernandez through the company’s disciplinary policy. In this regard, the post by Hernandez is against work ethics, and it should serve as a lesson to the other employees in the company.

In addition, it is important for Williams to ensure that the company publicized its policy regarding the use of social media and the workplace. On the other hand, it is important for the company to come up with a policy, that is if it never had one, guiding the use of social media and the workplace to ensure that such issues do not arise. In conclusion, companies should publicize their policy regarding social media and the workplace. In effect, embarrassing issues, like this one concerning Hernandez, will never arise.

Conversely, Hernandez acted inappropriately by posting work related information on social media. Instead, she should have taken the fitting procedure in order to report her grievances and have them solved. Therefore, disciplinary action suffices in her case while the company should also have a policy on the same issue.Work CitedDLA Piper. Shifting Landscapes: The Online Challenge to Traditional Business Models (A research study by DLA Piper). 2011. Web. 5 April 2012. .