I know the answer is probably that there’s a big difference between the law and reality (witness those teachers who get fired for some made-up reason because they got seen drinking in a bar in some crappy small town), but absent any contracts you signed upon employment, can your boss tell you what you can and can’t do when you’re off the clock?
Let’s say you get a hypothetical e-mail that reminds you not to talk about library patrons at the desk, 'cause they can totally hear you. Okay, good reminder. But then it goes on to tell us that we need to watch our mouths while walking around downtown. As in, when we’re not working here. Is that enforceable?
I imagine they’re probably allowed to tell me that I can’t, for instance, interview with the news claiming to represent the library, even if it’s on my own time. And I’m sure they can tell me I can’t drink on my own time if I’m not drinking at work but still drunk when I show up. (Although lord knows it would help some days.) And I know that if I had signed a nondisclosure agreement, I couldn’t go blabbing company secrets on my own time or anybody else’s.
On the other hand, this isn’t quite so cut and dried as, say, drinking on a Saturday night when I don’t work until Monday morning and having some busybody Women’s Christian Temperance Movement toady get all up in my business as a bad role model. It’s sort of related to my job. I guess it’s kind of like blogging about recognizable people or something.
Generally they cannot tell you what you can or cannot do on your own time and of course they do not have to keep you employed either.
If you run a website trashing your company expect to get fired. If you are a stripper on the weekends you may well get fired. If you sit at the local pub and make fun of your company’s customers expect to get fired.
Ultimately if they deem you are impacting their business they may well take exception to it and terminate your employment (barring union rules and what not).
As long as whatever you do stays off their radar I doubt they care overly much (barring actual illegal activities).
They can try. I can’t think of any legal obstacles. They might run into problems with unemployment compensation if they fire people for unusual reasons.
You might want to investigate the history of Henry Ford, the Ford Motor Company, and the infamous Ford Sociological Department.
There are some legal limits, of course. They can’t fire you for being the wrong color or religion, or (I think) dating a person of the wrong color or religion, and they can’t fire you for union organizing activities, but, absent a contract, they can pretty much fire your ass for combing your hair the wrong way.
Note: some states may have additional legal protections, but for the most part, you are an “at will” employee.
Many states are “at will”. So other than for the usual EEO exceptions they can fire you for any reason. They can fire you because it’s Tuesday. Of course, as mks57 sez, they may have to pay UC if they do. On the Gripping Hand, you can sue if their reason is silly or bad enough. ianal
(there are exceptions, some states protect workers from being fired for organizing a Union, and so forth)
I’d understand “not to talk about library patrons at the desk… [and] watch our mouths while walking around downtown” to relate to the privacy and confidentiality standards of your workplace or professional organization.
For example, as a faculty member, I can’t talk about my students’ performance or behavior in an identifiable way just because I’m off campus. Their privacy in the academic setting, where I learned of their performance and behavior, is intact whether I’m at work or not. Same as a therapist: Clients’ privacy and privilege do not disappear because I’m not in my practice office.
The question might be, what are the safeguards on patrons’ privacy to which you are required to adhere regardless of context?