Landmark industrial relations case tests employee, employer relations
- 17 September, 2009 11:49
- Comments (3)
A group of six prison officers, who criticised the NSW Corrective Services Commissioner and other staff on a Facebook group, are taking the matter to the Industrial Relations Commission (IRC), after they were threatened with losing their jobs due to the comments.
In what could be a landmark case involving the rights of employees to vent frustrations about their employers online, the workers made disparaging comments about their boss, Ron Woodham, and Corrective Services Minister, John Robertson, on a Facebook group called Suggestions to help Big RON save a few clams.
Public Service Association (PSA) senior industrial officer, Stewart Little, said the employees in question received a letter from the NSW Department of Corrective Services, outlining that they are guilty of misconduct and that Commissioner Woodham is considering disciplinary action that may include dismissal.
The comments still appear on the group's wall although the group now includes the following disclaimer: "If at any time you feel bullied or harassed by the content of this group, please report your concerns to the group administrator or Facebook direct as it is not the intention to engage in either of those behaviours."
Lecturer from the School of Communication at Deakin University, Ross Monaghan, says anybody with a social networking profile needs to think about both the personal and professional ramifications of what they post online.
“If what you’re putting online would embarrass you if it ends up on the front page of a newspaper tomorrow, don’t do it,” Monaghan said.
“If people are putting defamatory comments online I think people have to expect that the employer will abide by the law.”
Yesterday, the PSA took the prison officers’ case to the IRC. It is expected back on Monday or Tuesday.
"We are concerned [the prison officers] will be dismissed," said Little, adding that Commissioner Woodham submitted a statement saying that he felt bullied by the comments made on Facebook.
The PSA is urging that the decision on the fate of the group of prison officers should rest with an independent organisation, and not the commissioner.
"We're hopeful we will get an order which will prevent their dismissal, which will allow us to put forward a case as to why they should not be dismissed," Little said. "It's fair to say that we're in unchartered territory, because Facebook is an emerging thing and the law in respect to it is emerging."
Monaghan says to expect more such cases as society struggles to come to grips with issues arising from embarrassing social networking comments and viral emails involving employees and employers.
“Undoubtedly, more people will be embarrassed about what they’ve done online or what has been said about them online and employers are becoming increasingly savvy about their online reputations.”
The NSW Department of Corrective Services would not comment on the matter.
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Comments
Enigmatic
I think this is a classic case of "If your house is clean, whats the problem?"
So often you see a group of employees who are unhappy with their workplace. They go through the appropriate channels to try and rectify the situation and get met with red tape and disinterested management who basically say "stuff you, put up with it". Is it any wonder that some employees have enough of being mistreated or not heard and find alternative means of "venting" their frustrations?
When it all comes out in the open the employer runs around acting like they have been UNFAIRLY treated by their employees and threaten all sorts of actions for letting the general public know exactly how incompetent they are.
The simple fact is that ANY EMPLOYER WHO HAS NOTHING TO HIDE should have no problem with its employees writing on social networks. They should have a open and caring policy about dealing with employee issues and avenues which allow employees to voice their concerns without fear of either indifference or persocultion for having their say.
When the party involved is "not available for comment", you know that means they know they are in the wrong but think IGNORANCE is the best way of dealing with it.
Serves them right I say. Listen to the people who are on the ground doing the work more often and this kind of thing wouldn't happen. You have nobody but yourselves to blame and its the result of the way you have chosen to manage your business, not a fault of the employees who are themselves usually "bullied" into staying quiet or accepting it, especially in these difficult times.
Anonymous
A revolutionary thought - employees have a responsibility to act in the interests of their employer during working hours (particularly if using the employer's IT equipment) just as an employer has the same responsibility to their staff.
If groups of employees, unions, etc, start publicly rubbishing the employer as part of some industrial campaign, they diminish their own credibility far more than that of their target. After all, if they do succeed in causing the public to lose confidence in their company, it's their jobs that will be lost.
It seems that comments about employers who have nothing to hide are disingenuous, because while mud may be thrown without cause, it can stick in the mind of the public and cause problems for years.
Enigmatic
The employer has a responsibility to act in the interests of their employees, after all, it is the employees that actually do the work. It isn't generally the case that employees just randomly vent for no reason, and when there is a combined group effort to vent like this it invariably means there is a problem with the employer.
Why should the employee constantly uphold the interest of the employer while they themselves are being mistreated or ignored? If management refuse to take action when they SHOULD, then they are to blame for being forced into action when something like this happens. Its funny how management "suddenly" make the effort when their own posterior is on the line or when they themselves would potentially suffer.
Note though, I am not talking about anyone simply saying anything. A person who sets out to specifically rubbish an employer or who is being vindictive or wanting to simply cause trouble is a totally different matter. I agree completely that this is both unfair and inappropriate.
But it is not all one sided. Employers need to stop mistreating their staff and things like this would decrease in frequency and severity. For the average person, going to these lengths is generally only after multiple attempts of going through appropriate channels have failed. Employers need to be aware that there are consequences to their actions, that ignoring their staff will ultimately cause problems and they need to take responsibilities for the actions that they do take.
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