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A handful of bloggers have recently discovered that their labors of love may
lead to unemployment. By some estimates, dozens of people have been fired for
blogging, and the numbers are growing every day.
The bad news is that in many cases, there is no legal means of redress if
you’ve been fired for blogging. While your right to free speech is protected, this protection does not shield you from the consequences
of what you say protecting speech from being censored by the
government; but does not regulate what private parties (such as most employers)
do. In areas with “at will” employment laws, employers can fire
you at any time, for any reason. And no one has laws that specifically protect
bloggers from discrimination, on the job or otherwise.
One way to make sure your blog doesn’t earn you a pink slip is to make sure
that you write about certain protected topics. Most states have laws designed to
prevent employers from firing people who talk openly about their politics
outside of work, for example. Be warned that laws like this do vary widely from place to place, and many are untested when it comes to blogging.
1. Political Opinions
Many areas, include
sections in their Labor Code that prohibit employers from regulating their
employees’ political activities and affiliations, or influencing employees’
political activities by threatening to fire them. If you blog about membership
in the Libertarian Party and your boss fires you for it, you might very well
have a case against him or her.
2. Unionizing
In many areas, talking or writing about unionizing
your workforce is strongly protected by the law, so in many cases blogging about
your efforts to unionize will be safe. Also, if you are in a union, it’s
possible that your contract may have been negotiated in a way that permits
blogging. Some protect “concerted” speech about the workplace, which
means that if two or more people start a blog discussing the conditions in their
workplace, this activity could be protected under local labor laws.
3. Whistleblowing
Often there are legal shields to protect
whistleblowers–people who expose the harmful activities of their employers for
the public good. However, many people have the misconception that if you report
the regulatory violations (of, say, toxic emissions limits) or illegal
activities of your employer in a blog, you’re protected. But that isn’t the
case. You need to report the problems to the appropriate regulatory or law
enforcement bodies first. You can also complain to a manager at your company.
But notify somebody in authority about the sludge your company is dumping in the
wetlands first, then blog about it.
4. Reporting on Your Work for the Government
If you work for the
government, blogging about what’s happening at the office is protected. It’s also in the public interest to know what’s
happening in your workplace, because citizens are paying you with their tax
dollars. Obviously, do not post classified or confidential information.
5. Legal Off-Duty Activities
Some areas have laws that may protect
an employee or applicant’s legal off-duty blogging, especially if the employer
has no policy or an unreasonably restrictive policy with regard to off-duty
speech activities. For example, there is a law protecting employees from
“demotion, suspension, or discharge from employment for lawful conduct occurring
during nonworking hours away from the employer’s premises.” These laws have not
been tested in a blogging context. If you are terminated for blogging while
off-duty, you should contact an employment solicitor to see what rights you may
have.
Blog without Fear
Blogs are getting a lot of attention these days. You can no longer safely
assume that people in your offline life won’t find out about your blog, if you
ever could. New RSS tools and services mean that it’s even easier than ever
search and aggregate blog entries. As long as you blog anonymously and in a
work-safe way, what you say online is far less likely to come back to hurt you.
Every one in a while I get a wild hair and decide it’s time to clean house in places no one can see. It’s a quirk I’ve always had which can’t be helped and I’ve recently been accused of having O.C.D. which is more likely true than not. Truthfully, who is going to open the cupboard, get down on their hand and knees, pull out the bin, crawl into the void space and peer behind the dishwasher with a torch? Other than me? Exactly. Not a finger.
I’ve been buying fuzzy mice disguised at cat toys since moving into Chez 42 about 5 years ago of which, I have not seen a blessed little hair of 10 minutes after opening the package and dropping them on the floor for the cat. IN a recent conversation, I mentioned that I keep buying these little mice-toys yet I never seem to find any after about an hour. They seem to disappear much the same way one sock always manages a bid for freedom and escaped the confines of the washing machine leaving no trace and no witnesses.
How does this happen? Where do all the cat toys go? In fact, where the hell is my pink fuzzy sock that I have taken such care of, until recently that is when it went rogue and jumped ship?
I’ll tell you where all the bloody bastard cat toys went. Under the cooker. That’s right.
Under.
The.
Bloody.
Cooker.
You see, I had to move it for repair and decided to have a good go at cleaning while I was it, and lo and behold! ALL THE CAT TOYS! It would seem that my little housemate would bat the toys around so furiously and chase them with such abandon they would run and hide from her under the cooker. How about THAT for a cool yet viscious cat? OK, so all she did really was bat them around and chase them until they ended up under the cooker and couldn’t get them out.
The good news is, the cat is happy I have found all her long lost mice chums and I’m happy that I don’t have to invest in any more disappearing fuzzy mice.
Now, if only I could find that sock. Hmmm.
A few weeks ago Major Geek, head of the company IT department, decided to up and quit with only three days notice. Gossip ensued and theories reported by way of said gossip. Turns out owner of the 7th Level of Hell pulled Major Geek’s minions out from under his belt and reassigned them without discussion. Bad CEO, BAD! Major Geek was not happy and decided to move on to greener pastures.
Having no love loss between me and Major Geek, I did the right thing and rang him up before his final day to wish him well. Sure, he must have known it was office politicking but hey, if it were me I’d at least like to have a call saying “Cheers! Best of luck” then no call at all.
On the upside, Cute IT Bloke is now head honcho. Here’s hoping his English improves.
Soon, it will be my birthday. Somehow I can’t imagine being the chronological age I am actually am compared to the 25 year old living in my head. A birthday and an impending trip across the ocean. I’m just hoping the plane won’t turn into a firey ball of death and crash into the ocean. I’m not a fan of flying at all but I like everything else about travel.
Feeling a bit blue about another birthday and the whole “Oh my God,what the happened to my life” thing going on at the moment, I thought I’d Google my birthday and see what history has to say about ;
2006: Slobodan Milosevic found dead in cell in the Hague
2004: At least 170 die in train bombings in Madrid
1997: Ashes of Star Trek creator, Gene Roddenberry are launched into space
1995: Yolanda Chen hop-skip-jumps world indoor record 15.03m
1990: Lithuania declares it’s Independence
1986: 1 million days since traditional foundation of Rome, 4/21/753 BC
1983: Ice Dance Championship at Helsinki Finland won by Torvill and Dean (GRB)
1978: Terrorists attack mail truck at Tel Aviv, 45 killed
1977: Moslems hold 130 hostages in Washington D.C.
1974: Mount Etna in Sicily erupted AND Rhino Store gives people 5 cents to take home Danny Bonaduce’s Album
…and on the actual day of my birth (year omitted to protect my vanity but easily enough figured out thanks to bloody Google….tossers) :
Somalia drops diplomatic relations with Great Britain
I wonder if the Universe, apart from a dead guys ashes being blown into space, is trying to tell me something?
