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SOCIAL MEDIA AND EXPRESSING OPINIONS IN THE EMPLOYMENT–PRESENTATION AT THE HLLA'S DISCUSSION
29 June 2021
Our Colleague, Anita Vereb made a presentation at the debate meeting of the Hungarian Labour Law Association called „The right to freedom of expression in the employment relationship” about the court practice of employee opinions published on social media platforms.
The debate meeting took place on 23 June 2021, at the event the theoretical and practical experts of the labour law introduced a particular segment of the employees’ right to freedom of expression. Our Colleague was invited by Dr. György Lőrincz Attorney-at-law, the President of the Hungarian Labour Law Association to comment on the topic.
The issue of the employee opinions posted on social media platforms is very topical one, from time to time we come across news in the press which report that an employer introduced sanctions against an employee because of an imprudent behaviour, such as a comment on the wall or even sharing or liking some content.
In certain cases, the employees’ social media activity might infringe the interests of the employer, for example if the employee criticizes the employer’s decision about the remuneration politics on the Facebook.
Furthermore, there might be cases, where the employee does not express his opinion in relation to the employer, but it still affects the employment relationship indirectly. Just think about it: the employee posts his workplace info on the Facebook, and he shares racist contents.
Anita presented some recent court decisions from the above two groups, which can serve as guidelines for legal practitioners to decide if an opinion is protected by the fundamental right or goes beyond the freedom of expression.
We would like to thank to Mr. President for the invitation, to the Hungarian Labour Law Association and the HVG-ORAC Publisher for the organization and to Dr. Ildikó Rátkai Attorney-at-law for the photo.
Anita wrote a study in the subject with the title “That’s what you get by talking too much – The opinions posted in the social media in the practice of the labour courts” which was published in the journal “Munkajog” and is available in Hungarian here: https://munkajogilap.hu/ne-szolj-szam-a-kozossegi-mediaban-kozolt-velemenyek-a-munkajogi-biroi-gyakorlatban/
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