I was saddened to read about a woman who lost her job at McDonalds in Örebro because she blogged badly about her workplace and boss.
I am saddened because its such a silly thing to do. People sometimes forget that when they are blogging they have no control over who reads their blog.
Apparently she was a good worker as well but you cannot blame her employer for taking the action they did. The silly thing here is her boss then wrote on his Facebook that he had fired someone blah blah so maybe action needs to be taken there. Though in fairness you can at least control who reads your status updates.
But common sense comes into play here.
I was very aware at the start of my blogging career that I would not blog much about work. There are some other taboo subjects like my love life (if I had one!) because I am quite private in that regard. Though I have blogged on some other topics some may consider private. Remember the abcess I had last Christmas 
Also in the early days of blogging, a good friend of mine who is a HR Manager was checking my blog now and then to ensure I wasnt blogging on anything too close to the bone.
Its a shame as there is a lot I could have blogged about at work. How a British manager had to adapt to Nordic work culture. How a Nordic workforce had to adapt to a British boss. Interaction with Unions, lawyers, health and safety officers, landlords etc.
Yet I decided that those subjects were taboo.
Some may think I should keep my politics to myself as well but I think why shouldn’t I have views and values too. None of which conflict with my employer or are that controversial. Also I am happy to discuss my politics with others in the office over a fika so I have nothing to hide there.
Some of my staff also read this blog. I remember walking into one room and seeing my blog on someones PC. It was bit of a shock and certainly a reality check that I do have to be careful in what I write.
The LO Union’s Laywer Sophie Rehnström has issued this advice on fictional facebook statuses.
“It is crazy busy at work and I feel really bad.”
SR: Will definitely not be any grounds for dismissal.
“My boss X is an idiot and does not take pride in his work.”
SR: Did not see that there will be enough for dismissal. But perhaps the employer may see it differently. ” (I Know I would!!!)
“My employer Y cheat on taxes and deceiving their customers.”
SR: You are you in deep water, for you claim that there is criminal activity. Then it can be enough to risk dismissal if they do not have awfully much evidence.
My advice, if you have a blog or Facebook/Twitter is to a) ignore work stuff altogether b) if you really must blog or tweet something then only tweet something that your boss is aware of or what you would say to his/her face.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Sounds very much Chinese “freedom”.
Its not “Chinese freedom”, its voluntary self-censorship, something we do in our day-to-day lives all of the time – and we’ve been doing it long before the internet. We choose when and when not to express an opinion or make a judgement. Not expressing strong opinions is as essential to a good relationship (be it personal or professsional) as expressing those opinions is. It depends on the circumstances.
As ever in life, things aren’t simple.
Dave, Europe has laws that protects both individuals and businesses against defamation and slander etc. But no organizations should hold power over individuals outside of their working environment.
If a person wrote a tweet to his select friends saying something along the lines of “Went to the ____ hospital today and it sucked … they are so blinking sloooooow” – should the hospital have the power to then refuse the patient healthcare there again if they find out?
Or what about Shane publicly voicing his opinion in regards to the monopoly of the Apoteket? should Shane not be aloud to air his views without the fear of persecution?
What about when an employer or organization is doing something illegal? take for instance the repackaging of out of date minced meat by ICA in Sweden a year or 2 back? that could have lead to multiple deaths via bacteria such as Botchulism.
Another example would be the The MP expenses reports in the UK That would have never come to light without the bravery of a few to expose such.
Again, Europe has freedoms of expression to a certain extent.
But Europe also has laws to protect against slander and to ensure such freedoms are not misused without repercussions.
Joan – impressive that you managed to so overinterpret my earlier comment. You really are positively brimming with outrage.
However, since you seem rather agitated about the whole thing you would do well to develop a fuller understanding of the term “self-censorship”. It implies a degree of discretion and nowhere does it imply keeping quiet about illegal actions, for example. Please point out anything I wrote which implied the opposite.
Regarding the rest of your post, if it made you happy to write it then great. However, I’m fairly well educated and have as a good a grasp of balancing rights and protections as the next person.
BTW, try going through a day of your life without exercising self-censorship.
Self-censorship…aka Biting your tongue. I have to do it all day everyday because my staff are imbeciles. I’ve learnt my lesson about expressing my opinion of work on Facebook. Especially when I go to work the next day and my boss asked me about the status update I did the night before….funny because he doesnt have FB its the other sneaky “work mates” that let it slip. I dont agree with it being grounds for dismissal though?