The title may make you laugh but its true. I was pulled into the HR office today only an hour into my shift and was told that I would be layed off because of what I had posted on LJ. ok so here is what started it all: so in response to this news a fellow coworker and friend posted the following on her LJ: Within hours of her posting this she was pulled into HR (mind you this is just after we have all learned we no longer have steady jobs) and tell her that because of this post she had broken the non-discloser form that she had signed to begin working there and they fire her. she then posts the following: So at around 7:00 AM I read this and then post a reply on how I feel about the matter: So I post I go back to bed for a few hours I wake up,i shower I get ready for work i leave for work, I take the hour long trip to work. I get to work starts like a normal run of the mill day. We have a meeting with the big boss about what is happening with the contract and blah blah. The meeting is about how we are not to break the nondisclosures and blah blah W/E. We go back to work. I go on break. I come back from break and my Manager comes over and asks if I am ready to head to HR now ( I was supposed to take a test to see if I was qualified enough for another contract) So I say sure put myself in meeting and we head over to HR. We get to HR and the HR lady comes in sits down and had 2 papers in her had... I notice that they are pages from my friends LJ. She then gives a brief recap of what we talked about in the meeting and what not and then asks me about the journals. She then makes the statement on how mine has a few negative remarks about work as well but I at no time break the Non-Disclosure. She then proceeds to tell me that they are going to 'lay' me off. So she reads me the reply that i had posted this morning and then said the following: So there you have it folks!! That is how I got fired because of LJ
Or because her friend broke the rules, and they didn't like BiCat's attitude, anyway. Lesson #1: Don't let your employers know who you are on LiveJournal.
She also has a history of using internet at work. In a call center environment, that's a huge no-no. I was actually thinking they were going to peg her for that a while back.
A good rule of thumb would be if its work related as in like company contracts or something you probably shouldnt post it on a online page viewable to everyone
I didnt break the rules... I never once mentioned the company I worked for or the contract I was on and there for not breaking the rules. That was the one thing the HR lady was impressed on was how i went about venting about work and not breaking the Nondisclosure. The only people who know I have LJ are friends and family... and we dont talk about it at work. From what I have heard people from MovieBeam had people who look online to see if people are bad mouthing them or posting the promo code or stupid stuff like that.
I have to agree with Jux on this one. If you need to vent about work and such, it's better to use a personal Journal written in MS Word. Then Live Journal since LJ is just that LIVE. A personal journal written on MS Word can be saved on diskette. Thus it'd be less likely to get you in trouble
On the team that I was on each agent only took like 6 calls a day... we have LOTS of free time... We are allowed to use the internet. Anything they dont want us to have access to has been blocked. Eg: Myspace, LJ, Google Images, ect. So the fact that I use the internet at work has nothing to do with it.
Well, it's unfortunate for you I suppose. But you have posted in the past about using the internet while at work, and my company has fired people for disparaging the company. I'd be surprised if you're truly ALLOWED to use the internet at work rather than just being able to get away with it. Our company blocks a lot of regular sites, but you can still access the internet - but if you're caught you're written up. I've fired my agents for less. Good luck finding a new job though.
Other people have been fired because of MySpace, LiveJournal, etc. I'm not sure it's legally fair, but on the other hand, it is public, it is in word form, so it could be considered libel (I'm guessing) I don't know. I kinda feel like she got the shitty end of the stick here.
See thats the thing tho... Our Manger and SR know we browse the net. Hell there are even times where if we find something and they like what they see they ask us what site we are on. The only time I have heard of anyone getting fired for using the net was because they were on Porn and BDSM sites.
Look, I really don't want to come off as a parenting or "I told you so" figure, buuut... I try to steer as far away from describing and or detailing what I do at my job on the internet because, honestly, my affairs and issues with my work environment are entirely independent of my affairs and issues on the internet. Mixing the two has, historically, become a cultural tale of taboo; you hear a lot of stories about folks getting fired for using the internet either WHILE at work or to DESCRIBE their work, no matter what the details. So, while it sucks that you got fired, the lesson's been learned, albiet harshly. LiveJournal can be a cruel mistress. I've seen so many kids pour their hair out over the melodrama that churns around on that site. Add to that the fact that LiveJournal is a well-known, pretty prominent blogging/journal site and mix that with any sort of job details, no matter how vague and you've got what seems like an incredibly bad idea.
Like I said - and yeah we're splitting hairs - but I would be surprised if it's truly AUTHORIZED for you to use it. I've seen people at my work look the other way too, but that doesn't mean it's not against the rules. Other than it being a standard part of outsourcing contracts, it's also typically general policy. But hey, enough of that. Sorry to hear about the job, good luck, etc. etc.
On a LJ she knew they where already watching. People I work with know about this place and that I post here. One even pops in from time to time as a lerker. Knowing this I would never post anything bad about my job or the people that work there in the public forums.
Sounds to me she got canned not for breaking any rules about computer use, but for stating her opinion publicly. I'm not sure that's kosher.
There could be something in the fact that she went on line to post publicly that “I HATE THEM I HATE THEM ALL!!” and that there decision the day before was “Bull shit!! GRRRR!!!”. I don’t think I would be all that welcome at work if I went around in a public forum telling people that I hate my bosses. Maybe I wouldn’t get fired but I’m sure they could make things hard for me. Besides if they are shutting the place down they might just be looking for rezones to give people the axe. If I where in a similar position and was trying hoping to keep my job I sure as hell would be keeping my head down.
Unfortunately, it probably is. We've done it to our employees, and several other companies have done it to theirs. Of course, it depends on state laws, but a lot of states are considered to have "at will" employment clauses, which means an employer can fire you at any time, for any reason they see as a good business choice.
Their official reason appears to be "negative attitude" which I believe they can probably get away with, unfortunately for BiCat. They could easily claim that they were worried about effects on performance and employee morale.
