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…)

The Career Diva posts that got the most people reading in 2012 were all about the stupid things employers do.

Here are the top ten posts of the year:

Turns out many of you are upset about performance reviews, and you have good reason to be. The experts say such reviews are arbitrary and utterly useless.

And quite a few of you agreed some human resource departments can be clueless, especially when it comes to employee benefits such as family and medical leave.

Another workplace problem that gets under everyone’s skin is the rise in employers trying to get under your skin and find out how healthy, or unhealthy workers are.

A disturbing trend during 2012 was the growing number of employees holding multiple jobs.

It turns out if you’re a tough white woman or tough black man you can’t get a break.

What got job seekers angry this past year was the endless amount of interviews hiring managers think they need to decide on a candidate.

And women are still facing the perpetual problem of not supporting each other. Who cares how much Kelly Clarkson weighs? Quite a few of us, it turns out.

Employers are still asking job candidates how old they are, and they’re not always breaking the law when they do it.

My standing desk is still my back’s savoir, and a popular topic for many of you.

And finally, the Diva post that got the most readers reading was actually about a story I didn’t write. Lesson for 2013, don’t believe everything you read, especially work-at-home success stories.

Happy New Years everyone!! Looking forward to hearing from you all in the new year with your job/career questions. (careerdiva@verizon.net)

Do you want to know what keeps your human resources department up at night? Turns out many still don’t know the ins and outs of one big key employee benefit, Family and Medical Leave.

Many employees mock HR departments and give them little credit for their work, but they’re the people many of you go to to find out about your benefits, your rights, and general information on how thinks work at your employer.

Where do HR folks go to ask questions? Turns out, some have access to a hotline, and you may be surprised at what they’re asking about most.

No, it’s not about whether they can snoop on your Facebook account, or how they should implement yet another training session. What’s got them asking the most questions is your requests for time off, especially as it relates to Family and Medical Leave Act, or FMLA, among other workplace basics. (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…)

Wael Ghonim is a nerdy computer engineer who is a manager at Google, and has a side gig overthrowing the Egyptian government.

It’s a perfect example of not just a battle for freedom in Egypt but a battle for freedom of speech for employees everywhere, especially those in the United States. Yes, the good old, supposedly-free United States.

When it comes to a worker’s free speech rights outside of offices and factories, employers can stomp on them if they choose. Basically, if you don’t work for the government, or have a union contract that stipulates otherwise, an employer can fire you for what you say, or tweet outside of the workplace.

Ghonim has already faced a harrowing experience after being detained by security forces in Egypt and spending a week blindfolded. But another big battle may still lie ahead for him, a battle for his career.

He told CNN: “I have a lot to lose in this life. I, you know, I work, or, you know, now as I’m on a leave of absence, I work for the best company to work for in the world.”

Will Google fire Ghonim? (more…)

Given the big turnout on Black Friday, Cyber Monday is expected to be a shopping bonanza. But unlike Friday’s buying frenzy, most of you shopping today are shopping at work during work time and maybe even on a work computer.

Should you be doing this or not?

Alas, the answer isn’t that easy.

The lines between work and personal lives have blurred thanks to technological advances such as texting and e-mail, giving workers the ability to work anywhere and any time. And during a grueling recession many workers are working harder and longer. So, when do you have time to shop or do any other personal stuff? Work time of course. (more…)

Let’s face it, most employees use their company-issued pagers, phones, laptops for personal reasons sometimes. It’s just the way life is now — the lines between work life and personal life are becoming more and more blurred as workers seem to be working round the clock these days.

But if you do use these devices for a message or text you want to remain private you’re out of luck. That’s the message the U.S. Supreme Court sent today when the justices unanimously ruled your boss can snoop, even if your manager tells you it’s okay to use such devices for personal reasons. (more…)

I’m all about protecting a worker’s privacy and freedom of speech, but if you’re surfing and downloading porn for eight hours a day at work you may have gone too far.

Wondering why the government hasn’t been able to reign in Wall Street? It turns out that some top employees at the Securities and Exchange Commission, the government agency that’s supposed to be keeping an eye on Wall Street, were surfing dirty photos instead of dirty dealings.

This from the Associated Press:

The SEC’s inspector general conducted 33 probes of employees looking at explicit images in the past five years, according to a memo obtained late Thursday by The Associated Press.

The memo says 31 of those probes occurred in the 2 1/2 years since the financial system teetered and nearly crashed.

In one instance:

A senior attorney at the SEC’s Washington headquarters spent up to eight hours a day looking at and downloading pornography. When he ran out of hard drive space, he burned the files to CDs or DVDs, which he kept in boxes around his office. He agreed to resign, an earlier watchdog report said.

People like this make it harder for the rest of us. News of these bozos comes at a critical time because the Supreme Court just took up a case involving worker privacy. Such extreme abuse of employer equipment and time as seen at the SEC isn’t going to help. (more…)

Once upon a time, recruiters and hiring managers tended not to call workers on the job.

Most people respected the fact that employed individuals looking for a job wanted to be discreet about their job search.

Today, all bets are off and it’s mainly because of cell phones and PDAs. Before, a recruiter wouldn’t risk calling you up and getting a switchboard operator, or a colleague, or even a boss on the line.

Now, a call to your cell phone or a text message is commonplace.

But is it smart, cool, or ethical to be texting a hiring manager at another company while you’re sitting in a work meeting or even in your cube? (more…)

In Total Recall, Arnold Schwarzenegger is just a mild-mannered construction worker from 2084. Or is he?

Turns out, he’s a secret agent, who ends up fighting against the forces of corruption who use a technological arsenal to track him, erase his memories, and generally make his life miserable.

I sort of get a Total Recall déjà vu moment when I hear some of the wacky stuff coming out of our nation’s leaders lately.

There’s a furor in this country over the use of illegal immigrants in low-paying jobs. And as a result, politicians want you legal, American workers in all industries and jobs to suffer for it. (more…)