So we have long had non-compete agreements.
And non-solicitation agreements.
And now we are beginning an age where possibly we need non-social media agreements?
An Employment lawyer who represents Employers, John Phillips, writes the following advice to his clients on his blog The Word on Employment Law:
For the future, employers should include social networking as part of the prohibited solicitation, so there’s no doubt about it. That is, the definition of “solicit” should encompass social media. Another thing for employers to note about this case is that the new employer is also being sued for causing the former employee to violate the non-solicitation agreement. If you’re hiring an employee for a key position, you must know what agreements the employee is subject to before he comes to work for you.
Wow. interesting advice. Here is my advice to all of you 20 and 30 somethings (40 and 50 too) who use social media. KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT ABOUT WORK STUFF.
That means no tweets about how you hate your boss.
Or profile updates on how you plan to steal clients.
And no LinkedIn updates on how your old business couldn’t serve the clients they had.
Nor would I recommend being “friends” with work people – they will see you rants, and hung over moments and you might lose a job or two accordingly.
Be smart. Don’t tweet, print, publish, converse or gab about work, online.