Most of the career advice out there cautions employees from saying anything negative about their managers or company out in cyber space. But there are times trashing your boss on Facebook or Twitter is OK.

For the past few years I’ve been writing about how the government was pushing back on employers who fire employees for saying bad things about them online. A story I wrote for TheAtlantic.com in 2010 looked at how the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), an independent federal agency that defends employee-organizing rights, was beginning to step up and take complaints from workers who felt they were fired unjustly.

The NLRB felt companies were beginning to violate a long-existing provision of the National Labor Relations Act that provides protections to employees who get together and complain about a host of workplace issues - everything from conditions to benefits. Just because the discussions occur in cyber space doesn’t make a bit of difference, Jonathan Kreisberg, the NLRB’s Regional Director in Connecticut, told me then.

Well, it looks like the agency has solidified it’s standing on this topic. (more…)

I know a lot of you don’t take Twitter seriously, but a recent rogue tweet by a once-prominent CEO proves otherwise.

Jack Welch, the former head of General Electric who went on to make a career for himself as a writer for a host of business publications, decided to take his political fervor for Mitt Romney and trash the staff at the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, or BLS.

You see, he was apparently upset that the BLS’ unemployment data for September showed a drop in the jobless rate and wrote a tweet that questioned the integrity of the BLS numbers.

Here’s his tweet:

“Unbelievable jobs numbers…these Chicago guys will do anything…can’t debate so change numbers.”

I was particularly perturbed over Welch’s tweet because I know many of the folks at the BLS and they’ve always seemed to have the utmost integrity no matter which administration they served under. But clearly, Welch has a right to say what ever the heck he wants.

But, and here’s the big but, it can end up hurting your career, as it appears to have in Welch’s case. (more…)

No matter how many stories and blog posts I write about not mixing politics and work, people still keep asking me whether it’s a good idea or not.

Yes, this is America, land of free speech. But folks when you go to work today you’re not protected if you spout off about the Republican convention, or any other political topic.

The First Amendment says Congress can’t pass laws curtailing speech, but taking political sides or appearing to take sides can be hazardous to your employment, even if you’re not doing it during work time. There is no free speech in the private-sector workplace.

To make matters worse many of you are not only engaging in political conversations with co-workers face to face, many of you are also increasingly using social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, or blogs, e-mail and instant messaging, to get your opinions out this political season.

This from ‏@VCUPav on Twitter today:

“Gov Christie is so fat he doesn’t follow polls, he changes them by altering planetary alignment.”

While this one is funny, if I read another how-fat-is-New-Jersey-Governor-Chris-Christie joke I’m going to scream.

And you definitely don’t want to make your co workers or managers scream.

Here’s a scenario a lawyer from Proskauer, one of the top labor law firms, sent me yesterday:

(A man returns to his office from a lunchtime rally decked out in campaign buttons supporting a candidate or political party. On the way to his desk, he enters into a heated discussion with another employee with opposing views. His boss asks the man to remove the buttons and refrain from engaging in politically-charged debates at work. He refuses, asserting his right to “free speech.” Who’s in the right?) (more…)

I’ve been covering labor issues for a long time but yesterday I realized how much I still have to learn about worker rights.

I wrote a story about a gay man who claims he was fired from the Library of Congress after his employer found out his was gay, and during the research of the story I came across a disturbing reality. If indeed they fired this guy because he was gay, he has little to no recourse to fight the action.

Why? Because sexual orientation is largely not a protected category in the workplace, either the government workplace or the private sector. I knew their rights were limited, but I didn’t realize how limited. The lawyer in the Library of Congress’ case said he’s going to fight the case based on religious discrimination, which is clearly covered under labor laws, but he’s not going to push the sexual orientation issue because it would get his client no remedy for the injustice he alleges.

Since the Library of Congress is part of the federal government I found this even more shocking because that would mean the government can basically discriminate against gay workers.

When I asked a spokeswoman at the library about the case, she offered this in a statement:

“Library of Congress employees, like all employees in the federal government, have protection against workplace discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.”

Well folks, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not cover sexual orientation. It only “prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.”

When I got off the phone I called one of the top labor law firms that focuses on government workers, Tully Rinckey, to find out for sure what rights gay workers had. Alas, the news was grim for government and private sector employees. (more…)

Do you find the Confederate flag offensive? One worker did and it led to the suspension of another.

An employee of Delaware’s transportation department was suspended earlier this month for driving his vehicle on state property. Government officials said they found the license plate offensive because it was emblazoned with the words “Red Neck” and also displayed a Confederate flag, according to an article in my local paper this morning.

The worker, Tom Drummond, had the plate on his car for years, and had driven the vehicle to work since he started in 2008. But a complaint from another employee who felt the plate was a form of harassment prompted the state’s action.

I’ve written a lot in the past about how employees have few if any free speech rights when they enter the nation’s factories or offices. Clearly, you can be fired for what ever the heck you say when it comes to politics, but there’s one glaring exception — the government-run workplace. (more…)

Gailen David has worked two decades plus as a flight attendant for American Airlines. It’s not surprising that he, like most employees, has some funny things to say about his employer.

Unlike most workers, however, he decided to share those humorous tidbits on YouTube via a series of parody videos about the airline’s business practices and the way cutbacks have impacted employees. Unfortunately, his employer isn’t laughing.

David was fired this week, but the big question is, was American Airlines legally right in doing so. It’s a common belief that your boss can fire you for whatever the heck you do in social media, but in reality that’s not the case. (more…)

Some workers have a breaking point; and some a weakness.

The number of American workers holding more than one job climbed yet again last month to 7.1 million from 6.8 million in February of 2011, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

With so many good-paying jobs not being replaced, some workers are finding they need more than one job to make ends meet — or at least keep up their standard of living, said Ellen Ernst Kossek, a human resource professor at Michigan State University’s School of Labor & Industrial Relations.

One devastating result of grinding too many stones may be the rising rate of drug use — including amphetamines, which are stimulates, and cocaine. (more…)

There is freedom of religion in the U.S. workplace, but preaching in the office or at the plant can end up making you a career martyr.

A NASA computer specialists is going to court this week claiming he was unjustly fired because of his belief in a higher power.

But, his employer is claiming he was canned because he harassed his coworkers about his convictions, even handing out intelligent design DVDs.

Employers sometimes frown on outward displays of religion even as some employees demand their right to express themselves. The laws aren’t always clearly defined, but wearing your religion on your sleeve in a largely secular American workplace could hinder your career.

Remember the Home Depot employee who got fired for wearing a “god” button a few years ago?

Employers are required to provide “reasonable accommodation for the religious practices and beliefs of employees” under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. But the question is, what exactly is reasonable? (more…)

Jen from Chicago got laid off from her job in marketing on Oct. 25 and gave birth to her son on Nov. 3.

It was odd, and potentially illegal, timing. You see, you can’t just get rid of an employee because she’s pregnant. I know some of you are thinking, “Duh Eve, tell me something new.” But pregnancy bias is still a big problem in this country, even prompting the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to hold a special meeting on the issue last week, which I covered and wrote about.

I’m not saying everyone who gets canned while their pregnant is a victim of discrimination. But Jen had worked for the company for two years and even though the firm was recently acquired by a larger company she was surprised to get the ax.

Jen’s boss didn’t tell her he was showing her to door because of pregnancy. This is how it went down: (more…)

Did you tweet today about your sister’s heart attack, or write a Facebook post about the anniversary of your father’s death from lung cancer?

What if your boss sees it?

Yesterday the government released data on workplace discrimination and not surprisingly the numbers spiked last year.

Disability and age bias charges increased, and the total number of complaints hit a record at nearly 100,000 total filed, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. That’s a continued influx of charges rising steadily for the last few years.

What I thought was most interesting about the data was a whole new category on the EEOC’s Charge Statistics list: GINA.

No it’s not bias against B actresses. It’s charges under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, aka GINA. (more…)