Social Media Policies, Concerted Activity and HR Management Research Paper

Social Media Policies, Concerted Activity and HR Management - Research Paper Example As the use of social media in workplaces continue to be entrenched in the normal work routines of employees, employers are finding a way to spy and eavesdrop on the discussions and opinions that employees have, concerning the organization. This has escalated to the extent where employees are using social media to punish or banish employees who make negative or disparaging remarks about the company. This paper discusses the ethical issues involved in the use of social media among employees and employers. In one case before NLRB, BMW fired one employee for posting on Facebook about the company serving hot dogs during a sales event instead of serving more upscale foods. The company management determined the comment to amount to disparaging remarks and fired the employee for ridiculing the company. The NLRB determined that the employee was unfairly dismissed because the issue of serving hot dogs to customers was of concern to other employees and that the company also stood to lose customers because of serving them with hot dogs. The board argued that the employee only engaged in protected concerted activity that the company stood to benefit if it changed the kind of foods it served its customers (Tanick, 2012). I agree with the decision by the NLRB in the case above because the company would be the final beneficiary as a result of serving upscale foods. In addition, the company failed to show that it had engaged the opinion of the employees on the kind of foods they were serving their customers. The above case would lead to better employee relations at BMW if the company management would have decided to assemble the views of the employees on the kind of foods they were serving their customers and give them an opportunity to suggest the foods they thought would attract more customers to the company dealership.