discrimination laws, and codes of
conduct as implemented, for example,
in France, user conditions of social
networking sites themselves can also
contain restrictions. User conditions
(general terms and conditions) of social
media or platforms may restrict the
use of information for professional
or recruitment purposes. In some
jurisdictions, there is a difference
between the types of social media.
Employers in Germany and France
may use information collected from
professional social networks only (such
as LinkedIn), but they are not allowed
to use information from general social
networking sites, such as Facebook.
and regulations of the organization he
works for, and he must act as a good
employee. Employees are expected to act
professionally and to behave like good
colleagues, especially when it comes
to the use of social media. Information
revealed on the internet is hard to
remove and spreads fast. This can
have negative effects for both employer
and employee. It is a completely
employer is allowed to use information
available through social media on the
employee's private life. Can a Tweet
(such as "Relaxing on the beach")
by an employee on sick leave to his
Twitter followers be used in a dismissal
procedure? Is an employer allowed to
monitor what an employee posts on
Facebook about his manager or about
the company? Is an employer allowed to
check who an employee is linked with on
LinkedIn? The answer to these questions
depends on data privacy laws that vary
from country to country.
Of Social Media
Whether or not employers are permitted
to monitor the social network use
of their employees and if so, what
considerations and limitations apply,
are additional questions to be answered
by the different legislations. In most
jurisdictions, employers are permitted
to monitor social media use on work-
provided devices on condition that the
employee's privacy is respected. The
European Court of Justice has ruled that
in Europe employees enjoy their right
to privacy and private life in their work
environment as well, therefore, a limited
amount of private internet use must be
Court of Human Rights has determined
that, for example, monitoring telephone
conversations and emails should be
announced beforehand.
Of course, if the employer has a
specific and good reason to suspect
violations of company policies, it will,
in general, be allowed to investigate that
specific situation. However, monitoring
internet use as a general policy is only
allowed under certain conditions, or in
some cases not at all.
In general, privacy rights of the
employees must be balanced against the
employer's legitimate interests to protect
its business or IT. Some jurisdictions
have established guidelines about
appropriate monitoring in the workplace
(e.g., UK and Switzerland). In others, it
is important to have a consistent policy
about monitoring that has to be made
known to all employees beforehand,
either via a works council or individually
(Germany, the Netherlands, France).
In Spain, monitoring is only permitted
with the consent of the employee, and
Switzerland does not allow preventive
monitoring at all.