Ways Laws Can Improve Work

Making the Workplace Better: Two New Laws

Social media is an increasingly important part of people’s lives. Using social media is often essential to keep abreast of how local businesses, schools, and communities are operating, as well as to be alerted to important news stories. Yet many employees fear that what they post on their private social media accounts may be grounds for firing them, if they are employed at will. While posting protected information about the workplace or slandering an employee might not fall under the confines of protected speech, employers have considerable leeway in terms of how they read and use employee posts on social media regarding hiring and firing decisions. Even if an employer does so act illegally, like checking an employee’s Facebook status to see if they post about a new pregnancy or membership in a civil rights organization, it can be difficult to prove this was the main reason for an employee being fired.

To provide greater protection for employees, the new law would require employers who demanded links to an employee’s social media, or who used social media posts in a hiring or firing decision, to show that the employee’s posts caused measurable harm to the organization. The onus would be placed on employers, not employees to show that the employee’s social media posts harmed the company, versus that the company simply did not like them.

The second proposed law would make it a requirement for employers to offer the option to work virtually for employees whose occupations were of a nature that permitted them to do so, if the employee had a disability. This disability might include an autoimmune disease which placed the employee at increased risk from a communicable disease like COVID-19. This would be designed to shore up the protections which already exist for disabled persons, including the right to request reasonable accommodations, unless the accommodations placed an excessive burden on the employer. Not all employers, however, take the additional time and trouble to ensure that virtual work is feasible, and the new law would require them to ensure that they explore all possible means to allow disabled or medically compromised employees to work at their full capacity.