You may have just started a new job or perhaps you have been at your current job for a while and now enjoy posting on your favorite social media platforms. You might have heard that this could potentially get you into trouble at work and wonder if your employer could fire you for posting on social media. If they have, what can you do about it?

While you do have some privacy rights when it comes to posting on social media, it is possible that your employer has been checking your accounts to see what you are posting and if it's negative about the company in general. This could get you fired or at the least suspended if the posts contain sensitive information.

Here are some ways social media posts could get you fired and what your employment lawyer could do to help.

Reduced Productivity

One of the main ways you could get fired from your job for posting on social media is if you were on your accounts during the workday. Your employer may check its employees' social media accounts and computer usage during the day to make sure they are actually working and not surfing or checking Facebook or Instagram.

They may fire or suspend you because of reduced productivity. Your employment lawyer can work with you to determine when exactly you were on social media. Was it during your break time? Did you post during your lunch hour? Did your productivity drop during your workday at all? Were you able to finish your assigned projects?

Your lawyer has resources that could get a court order to check your computer log times to see when you were simply surfing or posting on social media during the workday. They also can help you get the dates and times of each post to prove you were actually working when your company says you were posting on social media.

Damaged Company Reputation

If you were angry at your boss one day and posted on your social media accounts about the encounter and your company found out about it and fired you, this could be something your employment lawyer could look into.

The company might feel that your posting could damage the overall company's reputation. Many large businesses and some smaller ones feel that any type of negative posts about their company can damage their reputation. This isn't always the case and most people can recognize an isolated incident from a bigger problem.

If you were fired due to this posting, your employment lawyer can look through your company's rules and regulations for what your conduct can be outside of the workplace, this can include posting online, and see if there is anything in there that specifically forbids from you posting about your job or the company as a whole.

They can help you prove that your posting doesn't damage the company's reputation. It simply reflects a bad day between co-workers.

If you have additional questions, contact a local employment lawyer.