Compliance Stuff

Roughly 70% of employers now screen social media profiles as part of the applicant screening process – but manually scrolling through Facebook posts, X feeds, and Instagram photos is time-consuming and inconsistent . Enter social media AI investigations tools that promise to streamline the process. These platforms use natural language processing (NLP) to scan candidates’ public posts, analyze language patterns and sentiment, and generate personality assessments predicting traits such as teamwork, openness, adaptability, or leadership potential. The pitch is compelling: get deeper insights into candidates' “real” personalities beyond what resumes and interviews reveal, all while saving your HR team countless hours. But before you deploy AI to comb through applicants’ social media, you need to understand the significant legal risks these tools create and consider some best practices. Risks of Social Media Sweeps Like all tools, use of social media AI investigations tools comes with ...

We live in a digital world where social media has become the go-to space for companies to connect with consumers. While it may feel like social media is a free and open space for creative marketing, enforcement actions related to social media use—or misuse—are on the rise. Below are common issues and practical steps to help try and avoid being on the receiving end of enforcement efforts. Available Does Not Necessarily Mean Free to Use The culture on social media platforms is to share, repost, and use the current viral tune while doing it. Despite the free flow of information online, it is crucial for brands to understand and respect copyright law. Copyright protects original works of authorship, such as music, images, and videos. Creating a post using copyrighted works without permission may amount to copyright infringement. There has been a rise in copyright owners going after brands using their music or images on social media without permission. In many instances, the song used is t...

Escalating culture war conflicts and heightened tensions can spill into the workplace when employee conduct relates to national and global  political controversies . Whether in the office, through the virtual workplace, or via  social media , employee  political  and ideological speech  may require employers to  navigate various legal considerations  and take action . The tensions are continuing to escalate with government agencies’  inviting complaints  and political figures’ urging citizens to report employees to their employers.  Although these conflicts have become more commonplace in recent years, they are layered, nuanced, and continually evolving. Before taking action, employers can help minimize the influence of politicized and polarized opinions by focusing on the following key considerations, which provide a foundation for addressing conflict, responding to complaints, and navigating the potential for litigation.  Key Cons...

  TikTok is home to many viral video trends, including “day in the life” and “story time” videos. “Day in the life” videos frequently contain short, collected clips of a user’s day with music, text, or voice-overs explaining their day-to-day roles (and possibly their workplace).   For example, a “day in the life” video may feature an attorney badging into their office building, walking to their office, getting a cup of coffee, and sitting down at their desk to work on a brief.   “Story time” videos are often first-person videos of an individual explaining something that happened to them at work and are typically filmed outside the workplace and not in uniform. For example, a “story time” video may feature a worker in their living room explaining a story about a “crazy customer” or about their “bad coworker’s” behavior that day.   While the risks of social media in the workplace may seem obvious to some, platforms are complicated to navigate as it appli...

Sheesh. Monday is  Social Media Day , and our wonderful Marketing team has asked me to do a blog post in honor of the occasion. In 2024, I had a list of tips about social media for employees and employers. It was pretty good, if I do say so myself, so  here’s a link  in case you missed it, or in case you just want to re-read and savor its awesomeness. For 2025, I have a social media cautionary tale for employers, and it is a doozy. THE CEO WHO COULDN'T SHUT UP A true story Chapter One: The plot thickens In 2022, a company’s Chief Technical Officer started making internal complaints about alleged sex discrimination and retaliation at his place of employment and advocating for some female executives who were allegedly not being treated equitably. I will assume  solely for the sake of argument  that this CTO’s internal complaints lacked merit and that he was a high-maintenance troublemaker and a pain in the neck. Right before Christmas 2022, the employer fired the ...

It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law, especially since the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace. In order to ensure you stay on top of the latest changes and have an action plan for compliance, here is a quick review of some critical developments we tracked in October and a checklist of the essential items you should consider addressing in November and beyond. _____ Plan for workplace impacts of election results.  In 2025, we’ll have a new president and likely see changes in Congress and state and local governments. Additionally, voters will weigh in on a number of state ballot issues that affect the workplace, like paid leave, recreational cannabis, and minimum wage laws. Visit our  Election Season Resource Center  to review all our thought leadership and practical resources – and check back often. We’ll continue to provide post-election resources as you prepare for the new year. _____ Consider performing a year-end pay equit...

  How employers address employees’ use of social media as a forum to engage on political issues entails a range of considerations. Social media’s potential to reach an outsized audience compared to traditional venues for political discourse may increase the negative effects of controversial political speech in the workplace. Social media content created and transmitted entirely outside the workplace without the use of company resources can still create a hostile work environment under certain circumstances and may be cited as evidence of employer bias in a lawsuit. Employers should be aware of their rights to restrict certain uses of social media as well as employees’ rights in this area. With the election around the corner, employers should review and if necessary update their social media policies and otherwise be prepared to act proactively to mitigate social media-related issues before or shortly after they arise. In 2017, former Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy noted in...