Social Media in and out of the Workplace: Old Laws Learn New Tricks

• Author: Andrea York and Karinne Coombes
• Pages: 45-73



Social Media in and

outoftheWorkplace

OLDLAWSLEARNNEWTRICKS

AndreaYorkandKarinneCoombes*

Without a doubt Canadians have embraced the Internet and social

mediawithopenarmsConsiderthatasofAprilanestimatedf-

teenmillionCanadianshadanactiveFacebookaccountwithanesti-

mated nine million loggi ngonto t he siteevery dayAnd as rece ntly

reportedCanadiansspendmoretimeonlinethancitizensofanyother

countryandareincreasinglyengagedinsocialmediaactivitiesinclud-

ingwatchingandsharingonlinevideos

Eager to tap into multiple business opportunities organizations

havealsoembracedsocialmediaFromlawrmswithTwieraccounts

* BothofBlakeCasselsGraydonLLPTorontooceAndreaYorkisapartner

andKarinneCoombesisanassociateintheLabourEmploymentandPrivacy

GroupsTheauthorswouldliketothankKateMacartneywhosepriorworkonthis

subjectwasofassistanceindraftingthischapter

 SeeChrisBreikssMindBlowingCanadianFacebookUsageStatisticsS

Marke ting BlogMayonlineSMarketingwwwsmarketingcomSeealso

AlexMonkWhatstheBigDealwithFacebookAStudyoftheSocialMediaUseof

CanadiansJanuaryonlineAbacusDatahpabacusdatacawpcontent

uploadsFacebookreportnalpdf

 SteveLadurantayeCanadaTopsGlobeinInternetUsageTheGlobeandMail

MarchonlineTheGlobeandMailwwwtheglobeandmailcomtechnology

technewscanadatopsglobeininternetusagearticle

 SeeforexampleBlakeCasselsGraydonLLPonTwierBlakesLawonline

hptwiercomblakeslaw

AYKC

to manufacturers with soc ial networking sites many organizations

nowhaveaninteractivepresenceonlineInmanycasestheuseofsocial

mediaisdirectlyorindirectlyrelatedtotheworkplaceAsaresultem-

ployersmuststayinformedaboutsocialmediaanditsimplicationsfor

workplaceandbusinessrelationships

Withthisrushintotheinteractiveonlineworldbyemployeesand

employersquestionsariseastowhetherthelawhaskeptpaceIsthere

agapinthelawThelawisexibleandchangesovertimethoughper-

hapsnotasfastastechnologychangesAssetoutbelowoldlegalprinci-

pleshavebeenappliedtotheuseofsocialmediawithminoradaptation

wherethenatureofthesocialmediarequiresLikeWebwemay

beinthemidstoftheevolutionintoWorkplaceRulesAlthough

thefullextentofhowsocialmediawillaectthelawhasyettobeseen

sometrendscanbeidentiedInparticularsocialmediapromisesto

haveimplicationsforanemployersabilitytodisciplineemployeesfor

odutyconductandemployerliabilityfortheactionsoftheiremployees

This paper will begi n with a discussion of social media a nd the

risksitmayposeforemployersItwillthenexaminerecenttrendsinthe

caselawwithaviewofidentifyinghowoldruleshavebeenadaptedto

addressnewissuesrelatedtosocialmediaFinallythepaperwillpro-

viderecommendationsforemployerstoensurethattheycanharnessthe

benetspromisedbysocialmediawhileminimizingitsrisks

ASOCIALMEDIAANDEMPLOYMENT

Socialmediaencompassesthewiderangeofmediathatpermitindi-

vidualstoconnectwithothersandthepublicatlargeonlineSocial

mediaismarkedbyusergeneratedcontentasindividualscreatetheir

ownonlinecontentandshareinformationwithothersThisinforma-

tionmayrangefromupdatesonpersonallivestosharingthepossibly

copyrightedworksofothersTheevolutionofInternetusersfromapas-

siveaudienceintoactivecontributorsandpublishershascreatedwhatis

commonlyreferredtoasWeb

 SeeforexampleJohnsonJohnsonNetworksFacebookpageonlinewww

facebookcomjnj

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inhowpeopleusecertainsitesontheInternettocreatetheirowncontentSeeTim

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