This weekend, the annual Northern Kentucky Law Review’s Law and Informatics Symposium on Labor and Employment Issues will focus directly on social media in the employment context. As social media sites attract more and more users, people have started using them as tools. Potential employers, for example, might monitor employees’ accounts.

About half of employers now search for their job applicants on social media sites, said Jon Garon, the director of Chase Law and Informatics Institute.

“There’s a balance,” said Garon. Certain things, according to Garon, like explaining why you don’t like your employer on Facebook, are protected under the First Amendment. There are other things though, that you can say or post on Facebook that aren’t protected, like using derogatory words toward your boss or posting pictures or implying the use of illicit drugs.

The symposium will be divided into five parts: an introductory welcoming section; a section about international aspects affecting labor and employment, which will touch on social media in the workplace; a segment on employment screening; a segment on the National Law Review Board and collective bargaining; and will finish with a round table discussion where attendees can address questions to the speakers.

“Each author-presenter views the intersection of law and informatics through the lens of his/her own individual experiences and area of scholarship,” said Lindsey Jaeger, director of Centers and Institutes Administration. “Guest speakers will provide opinions, address the current state of the law and describe where they see the intersection of law and informatics, within the context of employment, going over the next ten years.”

The Law and Informatics Symposium on Labor and Employment will be held Feb. 15 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Griffin Hall’s Digitorium. There is no admission fee for NKU students and general admission is $250.

According to Garon, the symposium will be streamed to YouTube and some of the speeches delivered at the conference will be published by the Northern Kentucky Law Review and will be available through Chase’s website. Breakfast and lunch will be provided for attendees and early registration is encouraged.

For additional details and registration visit https://supportnku.nku.edu/LII_Symposium_Labor_and_Employment_Issues_021513?srctid=1&erid=414963&trid=505720bc-9128-49ba-986e-695064278da9 or call (859) 572-7853.