I thought this news story was interesting enough to post about.

Maureen had one up the other day directly on this topic- this news will bear on that discussion.

The news is that the NLRB has waded into the debate about what employees may post on Facebook without fearing retaliation or interference from their employer. 

Many people believe that simply because "at-will" employment allows firing for any reason or no reason, that employers are free to do whatever they wish, but that is not strictly true.  If a reason for firing goes against public policy, the termination is not lawful.

The interesting thing about this case is that the NLRB has apparently determined that Facebook and the company water cooler (or break room etc.) are essentially equal opportunities for employees to discuss among themselves working conditions, with such discussions carrying specific (and strong) legal protections. 

Most wise businesspeople do not give terminated employees specific reasons for their termination- to do so invites increased risk for no benefit to the employer. 

The big question now (especially for plaintiffs' attorneys) will be attempting to connect cause and effect when terminations occur.  It seems to me that the savvy employee could simply do a bunch of complaining about working conditions on Facebook, then slack off and get fired, and immediately sue for an NLRB violation, claiming that the firing was due to the postings, rather than the lack of performance. 

This may be a boon to the Performance Review  industry because documenting (at least internally) reasons for a termination would be that much more important in cases where an employee has post about his or her job on Facebook. 

The NLRB gave no guidance on potential time intervals between the posting and the termination- unlike verbal communications, or even person to person written communications, there is no upper limit on the lifespan or scope of a Facebook post. 

If someone posts that their boss is a jerk, and gets fired two years later, a case may still be made that the post was just recently discovered by the employer, and thus was the actual reason for the termination.

Essentially, IMHO, this action increases the requirement for organizations to conduct regular performance reviews and to fully and quickly document any decline or change in employee performance as thoroughly as possible, as the "Facebook Defense" could come into play at any time.

Looking forward to seeing how various courts and administrative agencies deal with this new reality.