Social Media and Workplace Harassment

     With the growing use of technology, harassment isn't just confined to the physical workplace anymore, but rather has expanded to social media as well.  More and more employees are finding themselves the subject of social media harassment.  Gone are the days where harassment took the place of verbal communication between employer/employee and co-workers.  With the use of social media sites, boundaries are becoming blurred, and co-workers' private and professional relationships are intersecting with those of other co-workers.

     What exactly is social media harassment?  Social media harassment takes the form of harassment through emails, text messages, blogs, and other social media networking/communication sites.  The harassment doesn't just occur during the work day at the workplace, but rather overlaps into the personal lives of co-workers and occurs, many times, after work hours.

     So what are employers doing about this growing problem?  Many employers are starting to implement social media harassment in their policy handbooks, as well as offer workplace training on the subject.  However, employers still have to be careful not to overstep their boundaries by infringing on a worker's rights to use social media sites.  Employers also have to worry about being overly broad when implementing social media harassment policies as well.  Instead, employers need to find a balance to protect employees while not infringing on their rights.

If you are the subject of harassment or discrimination in the workplace, contact Ambuter Law for a free case evaluation.