Law and the Workplace

Tag Archives: social media

Maine Enacts Social Media Protections for Applicants and Employees

By Katharine Parker and Michelle Gyves on Posted in Hiring/Background Checks
Effective as of October 15, 2015, employers in Maine will be restricted in their ability to access the personal social media accounts of applicants and employees. Specifically, under the new law, an employer may not: Require, coerce or request that an employee or applicant disclose the password for a private social media account; Require, coerce … Continue Reading

Delaware Adds to Growing Patchwork of Social Media Laws

By Daniel Saperstein and Katharine Parker on Posted in Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation, Workplace Policies and Procedures
Man using smartphoneOn August 7, Delaware Governor Jack Markell signed a law to prohibit employers from interfering with the personal social media accounts of their prospective and current employees.  The new law, which also took effect on August 7, defines “personal social media” to encompass any account on a social networking site created and operated by a … Continue Reading

Oregon Amends Social Media Law

By Daniel Saperstein and Katharine Parker on Posted in Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation, Hiring/Background Checks, Workplace Policies and Procedures
Man using smartphoneAbout two years ago, Oregon enacted a law restricting employers from accessing the personal social media accounts of their applicants and employees.  For more on the law, see our prior client alert. Last week, Oregon’s governor signed a bill to broaden the protections of the state’s social media law.  The amendment takes effect January 1, … Continue Reading

New Connecticut Online Privacy Law Protects Prospective & Current Employees

By Daniel Saperstein and Katharine Parker on Posted in Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation, Hiring/Background Checks, Workplace Policies and Procedures
Man using smartphoneEarlier this week, Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy signed a law to protect prospective and current employees from employer interference with their “personal online accounts.” The new law, which will take effect on October 1, 2015, defines personal online accounts to include any online account used by a prospective or current employee exclusively for personal … Continue Reading

New Montana Law Protects Employee Social Media Accounts

By Daniel Saperstein, Joseph O’Keefe and Kelly Anne Targett on Posted in Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation, Hiring/Background Checks, Workplace Policies and Procedures
Man using smartphoneYesterday, Montana became the twentieth state to enact a law protecting employees from employer interference with personal social media accounts.  The law, which takes effect immediately, prohibits employers from requiring or requesting that a current or prospective employee: disclose a username or password to his or her personal social media account; access a personal social … Continue Reading

Virginia’s Social Media Law Continues Growing Trend

By Daniel Saperstein and Guy Brenner on Posted in Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation, Hiring/Background Checks, Workplace Policies and Procedures
Man using smartphoneVirginia is now the nineteenth state to provide increased social media protections to prospective and current employees, joining Arkansas, California, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin. Effective July 1, 2015, Virginia’s law will prohibit an employer from requiring a prospective … Continue Reading

Employee Gripe Apps: Should Companies Be Concerned?

By Katharine Parker on Posted in Performance Management, Discipline & Termination, Workplace Policies and Procedures
The Wall Street Journal recently published an article by Lindsay Gellman on a new app by Collectively that allows users to post anonymous reviews of and complaints about their employers.  The app is cheekily called “getthememo.”  According to the article, Collectively’s mission is to create a space for workers “to speak freely about what’s happening … Continue Reading

Background Checks Headline in 2014

By Daniel Saperstein and Katharine Parker on Posted in Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation, Hiring/Background Checks, Litigation and Arbitration, Workplace Policies and Procedures
In 2014, background checks were a hot topic in state and local legislatures.  Before this year, only 8 jurisdictions in the country had passed laws preventing private employers from asking job candidates about their criminal histories on an employment application (i.e., “banning the box”).  This year alone, however, 9 jurisdictions enacted ban-the-box laws covering private … Continue Reading

Special Report: Social Media Roundup

By Allan Weitzman, Daniel Saperstein, Fredric Leffler, Katharine Parker and Marc A. Mandelman on Posted in Workplace Policies and Procedures
Rhode Island, Louisiana, New Hampshire, and Oklahoma are the latest states to provide prospective and/or current employees with increased social media protections. Read this special report to learn more about the new laws and the implications for covered employers. In this issue: Rhode Island Louisiana New Hampshire Oklahoma Takeaway Read the full text of the … Continue Reading

Louisiana Has Joined 16 Other States and Prohibits Employers from Accessing Employee Online Accounts

By Tony Oncidi, Katharine Parker and Nicole Eichberger on Posted in Workplace Policies and Procedures
On August 1, 2014, Louisiana’s “Personal Online Account Protection Act,” codified as La. Rev. Stat. §§ 28:1951-1955, went into effect.  Louisiana has joined sixteen other states that have enacted laws prohibiting or restricting employers from accessing employees’ personal online accounts – including social media (Twitter, Facebook or similar sites), email accounts, or any other online … Continue Reading

Tennessee Enacts Trio of Employment Laws

By Allison Martin, Daniel Saperstein, Joseph O’Keefe, Kelly Anne Targett and Nicholas M. Tamburri on Posted in Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation, Hiring/Background Checks, Workplace Policies and Procedures
Tennessee’s governor recently signed three new employment laws. The first, a social media law, takes effect on January 1, 2015,and provides applicants and employees with social media protections similar to those in fifteen other states.The second, a negligent hiring and retention law, designed to provide a measure of protection to employers that hire and retain … Continue Reading

Wisconsin Latest State to Provide Social Media Protections to Applicants and Employees

By Allison Martin, Daniel Saperstein, Katharine Parker and Kelly Anne Targett on Posted in Hiring/Background Checks, Workplace Policies and Procedures
On April 10, 2014, a new Wisconsin law took effect to prohibit employers from requiring or requesting that prospective and current employees disclose usernames and passwords for their personal Internet accounts. Read this alert to learn more about the new law.   Read the full text of this alert.… Continue Reading

Social Media Watch: Illinois Federal Court Lowers Bar for SCA Claims

By Daniel Saperstein, Ian Plummer and Joseph O’Keefe on Posted in Litigation and Arbitration
Social media privacy cases continue to grow under the Stored Communications Act (“SCA”) (see our prior alert on the Ehling decision).  The SCA provides a private right of action for unauthorized, intentional access of another’s communications held in electronic storage, allowing the plaintiff to recover actual damages, plus any profits made by the violator, in … Continue Reading

New Jersey’s “More Properly Balanced” Social Media Law Signed by Governor Christie

By Daniel Saperstein, Joseph O’Keefe and Kelly Anne Targett on Posted in Hiring/Background Checks, Workplace Policies and Procedures
On August 19, 2013,New Jersey’s state legislature passed A2878, to prohibit employers from requiring or requesting that prospective and current employees disclose their user names and passwords to their personal social media accounts. The bill incorporated changes proposed by Governor Chris Christie, who had vetoed an earlier version of the bill, and was signed into … Continue Reading

Illinois Amends Social Media Law Enacted Just Last Year

By Daniel Saperstein, Katharine Parker and Kelly Anne Targett on Posted in Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation, Hiring/Background Checks, Workplace Policies and Procedures
On August 16, 2013, Illinois amended its social media law that had restricted employer access to an applicant’s or employee’s social media account. The amendments clarify that the law’s proscriptions only apply to personal social media accounts, and add an express exception to permit employers to monitor professional accounts. Read this alert for more on the … Continue Reading

Release of 2012 Advice Memo Pulls Together Principles Applied by the NLRB in Evaluating Employer Social Media Policies

By Allan Weitzman, Scott Faust, Ronald Meisburg, Mark Theodore, Marc A. Mandelman, Michael Lebowich, Katharine Parker, Fredric Leffler and Bernard M. Plum on Posted in Performance Management, Discipline & Termination, Workplace Policies and Procedures
A 2012 Advice Memo from the National Labor Relations Board’s General Counsel, which was publicly released two weeks ago in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, addresses a number of hot social media topics affecting the workplace. This alert takes a closer look at the Advice Memo, which concludes that portions of Giant … Continue Reading
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