Technology for HR
Ability to Restrict Use of Company Computers May Be Slipping
Employment law attorney Robert P Tinnin, Jr., answers a reader’s question about restricting employees use of company computers. Q: I understand the general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is considering new limitations on how far an employer can go in controlling employee participation on social media sites. As long as...
10 iPad Apps for Work
Last week, our annual Employers Counsel Network conference came to Nashville, so I got to sit in on the sessions. One of the unexpected themes was iPads, as almost 80 percent of the employment law attorneys showed up with one. Two of the conference speakers — president of Newstex Larry Schwartz and Teresa L. Shulda, attorney [...]
Hiring? Human Interaction Should Trump Search Results
A friend of mine works at a local university. Part of her job involves supervising the students who run the information desk in the student center. Last week, she began to notice that she was getting a lot of calls for various departments throughout the school. When the call volume began to increase, and the [...]
Social Media Ownership: What You Can Do
Last week, employment law attorney Sara Hutchins Jodka continued our discussion of social media ownership in the workplace by looking at a few cases that have the potential to shape this debate. This week, she outlines what employers can do to protect themselves and the social media accounts associated with the company. By Sara Hutchins Jodka While...
Social Media Ownership: A Look at Three Cases
Last week, we begin exploring the next wave of social media disputes between employers and employees — just who owns an account that an employee sets up and maintains to promote his employer? This week, employment law attorney Sara Hutchins Jodka looks at a few cases that have the potential to shape this debate. By Sara [...]
The Next Wave of Social Media Disputes: Who Owns the Account?
Employment law attorney Donald D. Berner discusses a new issue arising regarding social media and the workplace: Who owns a social media account created and used by an employee in the course of conducting a company’s business? “We lived on farms, then we lived in cities, and now we’re going to live on the Internet.” ―...
Asking Applicants for Facebook Passwords? Don’t Do It
This week there have been several articles floating around about the practice of employers asking applicants for their Facebook passwords as part of the interview process. The AP report that seem to start this wave of articles (click here) tells the story of one hopeful job seeker who withdrew his application mid-interview when the interviewer...
BYOD: Managing the Risk of Employee Use of Personal Technology
Last week, employment law attorney Taylor Chapman discussed the trend of employees who want to use their own electronic devices for work, the real-world concerns associated with the practice, and different approaches employers can take to policies. This week, she discusses the legality of accessing employees’ personal devices and how...
BYOD? When Employees Bring Their Own Devices to Work
In the first post of two, employment law attorney Taylor Chapman discusses the trend of employees who want to use their own electronic devices for work, the real-world concerns associated with the practice, and different approaches employers can take to policies. By Taylor Chapman Bring your own . . . device (BYOD)? A majority of businesses now...
Password Tips to Pass Along to Employees
It happened again this week. It started innocently enough. The icon telling me I had a Facebook message popped up. I clicked on the message, and it started to load. And kept loading. Suspicious of the message, I closed it out and crossed my fingers, hoping that nothing had the chance to infect my phone. [...]
ESI: Preservation in Action Edition
In a previous post, employment law attorney Russell D. Jessee discussed an employer’s duty to preserve electronically stored information (ESI). Now, he offers tips for implementing an ESI preservation plan. Once you have identified the key players and sources of ESI and assessed your resources, it’s time to start your...
It’s Never Too Early to Think about E-Discovery
Employment law attorney Russell D. Jessee reflects on employers’ duty to preserve electronically stored information (ESI) in the first of a two-post series. We couldn’t get through our workdays without ESI. Usually, we don’t give all that ESI in our workplaces a second thought. When you get hit with an employment lawsuit, however,...
Will Internet Make Resumes Obsolete?
In previous posts, we’ve covered how to legally review applicants’ social media pages and online profile as part of the hiring process. But for some companies, the online profile isn’t an ancillary part of the hiring process — it has taken the place of the traditional resume. A Wall Street Journal article recently featured...
Go Beyond the Social Media Policy
By now, all HR professionals know a comprehensive employee handbook includes a social media policy (you know that, right?). But that one policy shouldn’t be the only mention of social media in a company handbook. Employment law attorneys Sharee Eriks and Bruce Cross of Perkins Coie LLP maintain that social media concerns overlap into...
