Social Isolation and American Workers: Employee Blogging and Legal Reform, by Rafael Gely and Leonard Bierman, Harvard Journal of Law and Technology (JOLT), Volume 20, Number 2, Spring 2007.
Abstract: “Despite the work environment’s central role in providing social engagement, employees in the American workplace are more socially isolated than ever before. Americans are moving more frequently, living farther from work, spending more time alone, marrying later, divorcing more often, and enjoying fewer close relationships with friends and family members. This Article argues that off-duty employee blogging is uniquely able to address the American worker’s increasing social isolation — in effect, to create a ‘virtual union hall.’ Such blogging therefore deserves stronger legal protections than those currently in place, which actually impede the goal of reducing social isolation. In this Article, we detail the current legal status of off-duty bloggers under the National Labor Relations Act, National Labor Relations Board case law, state statutory law, and state common law. We then examine various options for reform in those areas. Finally, we argue that, for several reasons, state legislative action is currently the most promising avenue for affording increased legal protection to off-duty bloggers. In particular, we suggest that existing state statutes that currently protect legal, off-duty employee conduct from employer retribution should be broadened to encompass off-duty blogging, provided that the bloggers do not unduly interfere with legitimate employer interests.”
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