Interesting question that we would like to pass on to you!
Posting, tweeting, chatting – good online networking is part of the job in many industries. Contacts are important and valuable. But what happens when an employee leaves? An employee leaves and takes all of his contacts from social networks with him – is it that easy?
NO! It's often not that simple.
In Germany, bosses are increasingly claiming friends on Facebook, Twitter or Google+ as their own. Especially if an employee was on social networks for business purposes, for example to contact customers. Even users who only surf Facebook after work could still be on business, for example if the company name is in their profile.
Can the boss or the company actually claim friends?
Attorney Tobias Röttger, LL.M. from our cooperation partner ( https://www.facebook.com/ggrlaw ) on the topic:
“Social media and labor law have so far mainly concerned the question of whether you can use your private Facebook account at work, for example. If you build a social media community on behalf of your employer, the question may arise after the termination of the employment relationship as to who owns the generated followers. So far there have been hardly any judgments on the issue. It always becomes difficult when the designed or managed social media presence, for example a Facebook fan page, cannot be clearly assigned to the employer or it is not clear that it is a private Facebook profile of the employee entrusted with the task.”
Because on the web, private and professional spheres often merge.
Can the employer influence an email that an employee sends to customers via their private Facebook account? If an employee chats on Facebook, it is considered private.
In professional networks such as Xing or LinkedIn, however, he is usually on duty. Who owns the contacts that a sales representative collects on the job but manages on their own Xing account?
Can the boss demand that the password for the Facebook account, for example, be released?
In this regard, Tobias Röttger says, “we can only recommend that both sides specify in writing exactly how and on which platform the social media activities for the company should take place and to whom the followers should take place, so that there are no lengthy, costly legal disputes “belong” after a possible change of employer, similar to the copyright clause in the employment contract (authors in employment or service relationships, § 43 UrhG).
If company contacts are made via a private social media account, the employer must prove in the event of a dispute that the contacts or followers were generated through the business activity.
If the rules have been put in writing from the start, there can be no rude awakening after the employment relationship ends.”
The courts check: What name is the account under?
Who pays for it, which email address is given as a contact, what is the overall character of the profile? If the account or contacts are considered business, the employee MUST provide their employer with the login passwords. Legally, it is as if names and addresses were in an index card box on the desk. Especially in advertising agencies, bosses are allowed to dictate what should be written in emails or posted on Facebook.
Reason: In the industry, customer emails are usually sent via private accounts. “The agency is allowed to intervene even if employees and customers chat, tweet or post together after work,” says Klaus Pawlak, labor law expert at the Ruge Krömer law firm in Hamburg.
Lawyers recommend companies
Companies should ensure from the outset that access to social media activities does not disappear after termination. Therefore, what happens to the data in this case should already be stated in the employment contract.
Do you have such a contract with your employer?
How do you separate work and career on the web?
How do you protect your contacts from your boss?
Many thanks to GGR Lawyers | Media law, copyright and personal rights for the statements.
Author: Marlene, mimikama.org
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