The Blogger in the Workplace: When is Online Out-of-line?

When a former Delta Airlines flight attendant posted uniformed pictures of herself to the Internet, she had no idea that the penalty for such conduct would be her job. Unfortunately, her experience is hardly unique. From Iqaluit to Houston, from Edinburgh to Winnipeg, new information and communications technologies are blurring the lines between traditional notions of 'workspace' and 'personal space' and igniting renewed debate about the boundaries of employee freedom of expression and privacy. It's a debate that may seem one-sided to the individuals who have lost their jobs for reasons related to their blogging activities. Recently, the Winnipeg Health Sciences Centre reportedly fired a system administrator for posting to his personal online journal or "blog" from work. Earlier this month, a UK book chain fired a long time employee for venting about his employer in cyberspace. Microsoft, Friendster, Starbucks, Nunavut Tourism and the US Senate are among some of the other organizations that have reportedly terminated employees for blogging in the past 18 months. The list even includes newspapers such as the Houston Chronicle and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. At the same time, other publications have capitalized on the blogging phenomenon by hosting their scribes' ad hoc columns on the papers' official Web sites. In an age when anyone can find anything on the Internet, the rule for employees seems simple: don't blog about work. But is it that simple? Despite the relative novelty of blogs, an employer's response to employee blogging in or about the workplace should not require reinventing the wheel. Some companies actually encourage blogging as opening channels of communication between employees and clients. The issue may be whether the activities are likely to harm the employer, rather than whether blogging at all is permitted. An organization's privacy policy can establish expectations regarding non-work use of employer facilities, by addressing these issues. By a similar token, rather than trying to censor what employees may write on their own time – likely a hopeless task anyway – employers can establish guidelines for appropriate blogging, including making clear how blogging about work-related issues may affect an employer's reputation and legitimate interests in trade secrets, intellectual property and other areas. For an article on the UK bookstore blogger, see: http://news.com.com/2100-1026_3-5519477.html. For an article from the Glasgow Herald on blogging and the workplace, see: http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/31393-print.shtml. Summary by: Jason Young