1:-Companies should have the right to track employees through company smartphones and

monitor their personal Facebook and Twitter account?

Ans:- Yes, An employer’s goal is not only to protect their company, but also to
protect their employees.  With social media uprising it may seem impossible to
put rules into place, but with proper guidelines and policies, employers and
employees can both feel at ease.It is important to both the employer and the
employee that social media use be monitored. This is simply to ensure that
within the online realm, things are kept professional from both parties. An
employer wouldn’t want an employee to leave work and bad mouth the
company to all of their online friends. In relation, an employee would not want
their boss snooping on their social media page. To ensure that these things
don’t occur, it is best to put a policy into place that way if something does
occur there will be precautionary steps taken to solve the issue. With proper
guidelines and regulations in place, social media monitoring can potentially
help a company succeed in many different aspects of the business.
Companies monitor their employees to ensure that no harm is being done
within the workplace. A professional business wants to be viewed exactly that
way; professional. If an employee makes statements that are malicious or
harmful to the employer’s business reputation, this could potentially lead that
employee down a very difficult path due to the social media privacy laws put
into place. Companies are not allowed to request or demand personal account
login information from employees. The only reason an employer should have
access to an account is if, and only if, a potentially legal issue within their
policy reaches the surface and needs direct attention. When a company
monitors an employee’s social media account, they are not only protecting
themselves, but their employees as well. It is important to be aware of what
your employees are posting on the Internet because posts can travel so fast
via the web that it could potentially promote or destroy a company within
minutes. Monitoring activity will allow everyone within the company to be on
the same page and share the same values. Not only will monitoring help keep
a company on track, but it can potentially be used as a way of recruitment for
companies as well. Monitoring employees’ social media accounts can be done
in many different ways, however, whichever way an employer chooses to
utilize it, it should be done carefully. It is important for employers to know what
their employees discuss on the web. It is also important for employers to know
how their employees carry themselves online to the public. A person can
seemingly have two separate lives when viewing their social media account to
getting to know them in person. If an employee is engaging in inappropriate
behavior that is not protected by law and  does not coordinate with the values
of their company, they can be at fault and potentially lose their job if things get
out of hand. Companies want to make sure that their employees share the
same mission and vision as they do. Incidents may sometimes occur, but if a
proper social media policy is put into place, incidents can hopefully be
avoided.

2:- Employees should be able to maintain their personal privacy and not be tracked through
their company smartphones or their Facebook and Twitter accounts?
Ans:-Employers have to be careful about what information is found on an employee’s social
media account. If an employer chooses to utilize social media within their hiring process, they
have to be careful that the information they find is not being held against them in an unlawful
manner. Meaning, an employer cannot choose to deny an applicant a job opportunity due to
their race, gender, religion etc. If an employee knows that their social media page has been
utilized, they can claim that they were not hired due to any of these observations and the issue
can be taken into court. It is important to note that if social media is utilized within the
onboarding process that positive things from the page are taken into account, and the potential
candidate should be aware that their page has been viewed by their employer. If a potential
employee allows their accounts to be accessed by including links in their resume to view them,
any information, in accordance with applicable law, found can be utilized. Issues involving
ethics via social media can be very difficult to determine. While ethics does
not seem like something that one typically relates to social media, it is actually
a key factor in handling the idea of social media monitoring. Employers are
tempted to monitor their employees social media accounts to ensure that their
company is being run smoothly and by the best candidates. Some may
wonder, what makes a post ethical or unethical? A simple way to determine
this is by understanding what the meaning of ethical is. An ethical post would
contain something that has moral principle. Meaning, if an employee utilizes
social media on a daily basis, they should be certain to maintain an online
persona that pleases the public in a way that does not harm either them or
their place of employment in any way. Respecting the values of a company in
and out of the workplace would be ensuring that any online posts would be
considered ethical and appropriate to viewers.Legal issues can often occur
when attempting to monitor employees’ social media accounts. Being that in
some states it is against the law to request an employee’s social media
information, employers have to be careful about what they expect from their
employees. Unless serious accusations are made, employers are not allowed
access to an employee’s personal social media account. However, if an
employee is using the company’s social media account and improperly
posting content, the employer is granted access to that account and able to
take necessary steps to handle the situation. Employees are allowed to
discuss things like salary and wage via the web without punishment. If any
employee decides to utilize their accounts as a way to make malicious
statements about the company or damage the company name in any way,
these are grounds for employers to request access to these social media
pages. By putting a company social media policy in place, many of these risks
can be avoided. It is important to be very specific about the do’s and don’ts
that are required by employees, so be sure to not breeze over any
regulations. State and federal laws are constantly being updated, so it is
imperative to stay up to date with current laws and regulations to avoid any
liabilities. During the onboarding process, employees should be introduced to
these social media policies to avoid any confusion. If these policies are not
stated and introduced immediately during the onboarding process, an
employee may not realize that there are specific social media rules in place.
Employees must be aware of the regulations before not abiding by them can
be used against them in any way. By ensuring that employers and employees
are on the same page, any misuse can be handled accordingly and properly.