By John Stembridge-King, BALPA Employee Relations Consultant When flying the line, a pilot is trained to watch out for warning signs. This could be a change in the weather at the destination airfield or reacting to warning signals on the flight deck. Either way, flying the line puts the brain on high alert for warning signs. The same process should be applied when off duty, too especially when sitting at the keyboard and preparing a note to go on social media. First, be aware of your employers social media policy, because a post could easily stray into territory that could bring your name to the attention of your pilot manager. If a social media post makes a derogatory comment or you express views that could potentially damage your employers reputation, you could find yourself on the wrong end of a managerial conversation. In the present day, an employer can see as much of its employees online life as your closest friends, and it is important to appreciate that social media and employment law can be tricky to navigate. Stay positive Social media policies often include prohibitions on negative comments about the business, its employees, business contacts or competitors, with disciplinary procedures for breach of the policy, including clear sanctions that could result in dismissal. The important message here is that, under social media employment law, a company can fire an employee for social media posts because the line between private life and business life is increasingly blurred. Employers can easily have social media posts brought to their attention and if, for example, a pilot publicly posts strong political opinions that do not align with the companys values, this could result in disciplinary action. This could, quite easily and reasonably from an employers perspective be classed as gross misconduct for it to be seen as a fair reason for immediate dismissal. It is not automatically fair to dismiss someone because of, for example, their political beliefs or political groups to which they belong, and there are cases where an employee has successfully sued their employer for unfair dismissal. But, at this point, if an employer took a serious and dim view of a social media post, no amount of compensation could make up for a career in tatters; reinstatement is not a common remedy at an employment tribunal. Under employment law, a company can fire an employee for social media posts because the line between private and business life is increasingly blurred Its your reputation Nowadays, most businesses keep a close eye on their online reputation to be on top of any potentially damaging posts, so it is not unreasonable that an employee posting public comments about their employer will be found and reviewed. A pilots job could be put in jeopardy if those comments are overtly negative or defamatory and breach a social media policy. In one case, an employee was found to be posting negative comments about his employer on his social media pages and had continued to do so even after being challenged by his line manager. The employee was dismissed and claimed it was unfair, but the company was able to prove that its social media policy required employees to be loyal to the brand and not criticise it on social media, whether they were at work or doing so on their own time. The unfair dismissal appeal was denied. In cases such as this, social media employment law will often come down on the side of the company unless the employee can prove that they were not in breach of the social media policy or were not made aware of it. If a BALPA member, in circumstances described above, believed that they were unfairly dismissed, they would, under BALPAs legal assistance scheme, have a lawyer assess their case and, potentially, have an employment tribunal funded to contest it. However, if the merits of a claim were below 50%, you could be on your own to fund legal representation, which would be very expensive. The message here is simple. With the use of social media so widespread, it is important to be aware of your employers social media policy. Moreover, if ever in any doubt, please do pause over the send button and seek advice before making a social media post that could potentially get you into bother with your employer. SOCIAL MEDIA The social side