When is it appropriate for an employer to discipline an employee
for their activity on social media? This is a question that
employers often struggle with, due to the fact that it raises
complex and nuanced issues, such as the divide between a
person's private life and their employment responsibilities,
and the extent to which an employer can restrict an employee's
right to express their personal ideas and viewpoints.
The law is well established that an employee's off-duty
conduct ought not to be of concern to the employer unless there is
a real and material connection between the off-duty conduct and the
workplace. This same principle has been applied by decision makers
in both a unionized and non-unionized context when addressing
off-duty social media use by employees.
