Social media has become a significant influence in our daily lives. From sharing photos or videos from your vacation to checking into a restaurant and tagging your friends, platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram enable users to post about their lives.
When it comes to establishing more favorable workplace conditions, Texas employees have been relying on social media to garner support and organize movements. However, many employees have also been fired for posting on social media.
So, what type of workplace-related social media posts are protected?
According to the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), both union and non-union employees are allowed to self-organize, band together with coworkers, or otherwise engage in “concerted activity” to help improve work conditions. Concerted activity means acting on the authority of other employees in bringing complaints to an employer.
For example, if one employee posts about the improving their job’s wages and benefits, after having discussed the issue with other coworkers about their wages and benefits, the post may be deemed a concerted activity. By contrast, if the same employee complains about his/her wages and benefits, it is not considered concerted activity because only the complaining employee is experiencing the issue.
Keep in mind, the concerted activity cannot be malicious or reckless. For example, if there are threats of violence, misleading or false statements, or any negative remarks about an employer’s service or product that doesn’t involve a labor issue, then such statements are not protected.
If you have been fired, demoted, or otherwise retaliated against because of your social media post, contact Shellist Lazarz Slobin today at (713) 352-3433 and schedule a case evaluation.