Facebook Like.jpgProposed Michigan Social Media legislation is back in the headlines. Specifically, Chris Gautz of Crain’s Detroit Business reported that Michigan Senate House Bill 5523, (sponsored by Rep. Aric Nesbitt, R-Lawton), was approved unanimously by the House in September and is now sitting on the Senate floor. 

This bill would “outlaw” employers from requiring employees

Balancing Stones.jpgA previous post on this blog discussed ways for employers to increase the effectiveness of a company’s social media policy (See The Sweet-spot for Increasing the Effectiveness of a Social Media Policy: Employee Self-Interest).

One of the real-world examples discussed in that post was a lawsuit against a former Michigan Assistant Attorney General Andrew

Facebook.jpgMichigan recently joined a growing trend of states that have introduced legislation to prohibit employers from asking job applicants and current employees for passwords and other private account information for social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Specifically, State Rep. Aric Nesbitt (Republican) proposed legislation that applies to state and private employers. Mr.

Briefly, under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), employees are guaranteed “the right to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection” 29

Dilbert.com

Certainly social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, blogs, and Twitter provide employers with opportunities to obtain useful, legitimate, and relevant information about a job applicant. But the above Dilbert comic by Scott Adams underscores that there are also risks in using such social media outlets to screen job applicants.  

Specifically, if employers use social media

Targeting Social Media.jpg

It is no secret that the NLRB has put employer’s social media policies and employee discipline discharges arising out of social media (a/k/a Facebook Firings) in its cross-hairs.

This fact was recently highlighted in another NLRB Press Release (9/7/11) where an administrative law judge found that a Buffalo nonprofit organization unlawfully discharged five