Check your LinkedIn contacts after leaving a job

Check your LinkedIn contacts after leaving a jobCheck your LinkedIn contacts after leaving a jobIn our attention economy, likes, connections and followers have monetary value for both you and your employer.But when you and your company break up, who gets to keep the connections you made while you were collecting a paycheck from that company?Ashleigh Peterson became a case study on this dilemma last week after shetook to LinkedIn to air her grievances about her previous employer Hays, a global recruiting and staffing company.Losing thousands of work contacts in an instantPeterson, a recruiter, was forced to remove thousands of her LinkedIn contacts because Hays claimed the relationships belonged to the company, not to her - even though it was nearly impossible to tell which had been hers before she joined the company.Delighted to be back up to 4,000 connections, Peterson wrote. It was very frustrating when leaving Hays that the legal department wrote to me threatening legal action if I didnt remove any connections that they did business with- especially when they were already connections of mine before joining.Petersons postgathered over 100,000 views, she says, and it caused discussionsin the comments that are still ongoing. Petersons questionis something many of us want to know to what extent does your employer own your social media?In the U.K., its a little clearer theres precedent with courts siding with the employer. Hays even won a case against an ex-employee in 2008. The U.K. court ordered Mark Ions, an ex-Hays consultant, to hand over his LinkedIn contacts after he allegedly used his LinkedIn connections to get clients for his rival agency.But after reading many sympathetic readers calling on her to ask them to prove each and every connection, Peterson nowbelieves she should have challenged it.Without knowing the details of Petersonsemployment contract, we can only speculate about whos in the right about this. What we can do is offer advice so you can a void behauptung situations.Ladders talked to two legal experts on how employees and employers can clarify social media ownership and avoid legal action.Ask questions about who owns whatWith the question of ownership, University of Florida professor Jasmine McNealy notes that in the United States, its a really unsettled area of law about who owns social media property as it relates to an individual and an employee. Unless youre running the social media account for McDonalds- then its obvious you dont own that social media account.But for the rest of us who are building professional connections through our personal brand, the number one thing ownershipdepends on, McNealy said, is whether or not, they expressed ownership of your social media in youremployment contract.Here are questions employees can answers to decide whether or not your boss owns your social mediaWho set up your Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram account?Does your employer know yourpassword?Is your employers name in yo ur Twitter handle?Who else isallowed to post on yoursocial media site?Who ultimately makeseditorial decisions? If youremployer is part of your answers, then your employer canassert that they own it because one of the factors around ownership is whether or not you had control andaccess, McNealy said. Other factors can include the jurisdiction youre living in and where you take the case tocourt.A yes to any of these questions can swing the influence over your account to your employer, rather than you - a dangerous factor for people in recruiting, sales, or other professions where LinkedIn is a crucial tool for work.For Petersons situation, McNealy sees both sides.How can any company really claim that they own these connections that their employee cultivated? Peoples reactions are valid because the individual, for the most part I would say, puts forth the labor tomake those connections, even if the labor is just posting on Twitter. Its still labor.On the other hand, she sees the other side if an ex-employee decides to take relevant company contacts and use them for this rival business, then you can see okay, they have some underhanded mission going on here.Get clarity upfront before you start your jobIts always better to raise questions around social media ownership before you sign an employment contract,David Harmon, an employment attorney and partner at Norris, McLaughlin Marcus, tells Ladders.If theres one katechese to give to people, its really a matter of going in with your eyes and ears open, knowing what the policies and procedures are, asking what they are, so theres clarification at the outset and really understanding what the agreement says within the restrictions.Getting this clarificationbenefits the employer as well as the employee You dont want your employee to be making posts that dont represent your values, McNealy said.Harmon compares obtaining these social media rules to being a safe driver Know the rules of the road before you get on the high way.Create separate accountsMcNealy suggests employees can create separate social media accounts for personal and professional use.It is perfectly okay to have two separate accounts, McNealy said. Now this doesnt automatically meanthat if youre using your professional account to promote your employment stuff that your company is going to own it at all. What it does do isseparate your individual connections from your connections that yourecultivating for the professional side.Put policiesdown in writingThese are not questions to bring up just in conversation. You want employersanswerswritten down, especially if you face legal action later on. Ultimately this is going tocome down to what you know from your contract and what youve been told. Getting things expressly stated is always the best thing, McNealy said.And if all else fails and you find yourself facing legal action, take a deep breath. Dont panic. Contact a legal professional, McNealy advises. It may cost money, but you do hav e a chance of prevailing.