Ripping your current employer on Facebook

Sorry if this topic has been covered before, but this has been bugging me.

A guy I've remained friends with at a former stop has been going nuclear about his current paper and chain on Facebook, calling the chain's bosses scum, saying the company is in horrible shape, is going to go under, how the horrible decisions the bosses have made are the reason the company is going to go out of business, etc.

Truth issues aside, I've tried to subtly tell him that if he wants to remain employed, it may be a good idea to not do that. He usually scoffs and says they won't do a thing, and he may be right. But I know if I'm his immediate boss and I see that, he's going to be on a pretty short leash, if not gone the first chance I get.

What say you, is it OK to let fly on social media with negative thoughts about your current employer, or a bad idea all around?

 

Duh. Bad idea all around.

But hey, people are free to do stupid things. The Internet is merely an easy way to do so.

 

Bad idea, of course.

Even when I rip on my Gannett, I rip on the company, not the people I worked for, who were, with only one or two exceptions, absolutely wonderful to work with. The company deserves my scorn, not my former bosses and co-workers. And I never ripped on the company when I worked for them, nor do I rip on my current company, which also has been wonderful so far.

 

Doing so is a monumentally dumb idea, but some recent decisions by U.S. federal courts and agencies have determined that posting derogatory Facebook remarks about your employer is protected speech and not a fireable offense, unless the remarks give away trade secrets or otherwise directly jeopardize the company's health.

On the other hand, making your displeasure known publicly is a great way to ensure you're going to be examined very closely for other possible fireable offenses at the workplace.

 

That's where I come in, especially working in an "at will" state when it comes to employment and for a company that has been having regular layoffs. There are enough instances where the company has its guns trained on you, without you helping them load the clip.

I know he is hot on the job search, too, and if I was a prospective employer and did a simple check of his name and saw what he's been saying about his current job, he wouldn't be getting a call back from me.

 

If you're in the newspaper business you don't give your bosses any additional reasons to fire you...

You shouldn't do it at any other job either...

 

Ripping your bosses and the head honchos is stupid, but it's not as likely to get you fired as ripping on people you cover or making of readers or something along those lines.

 

That, of course, is the very best reason for not doing it. What you write -- what you post as your point of view -- most certainly will be examined by future employers, and very likely used against you.

 

He's a dumbass. End of story.

 

Agreed, for all the reasons cited in this thread.

 

I think it's fine and perfectly acceptable.
Freedom of Speech and all that.
Way to stick it to the man. Good for your friend. Screw the oppressive white devil!!!

















Since everyone is stating the obvious, I feel obliged to offer up the contrarian point of view.

 

I find it repugnant that companies are such nannies that they feel like they have to monitor what their employees say about them after hours on sites like Facebook.

That said, they do feel like they have to, so I'm not going to be the one who martyrs himself to my "fuck your boss" cause.