Negative Glassdoor reviews can have a serious impact on employers. Such reviews might make it harder for employers to recruit the highest quality candidate, morale may be impacted, clients and customers may see these reviews and take their business elsewhere and the financial success of the business could be hit.
What to do if you find your business subject to negative Glassdoor reviews
We would first suggest that you check if you have a social media policy in place. A social media policy should seek to prohibit staff from making disparaging or defamatory remarks against the business or may instruct them to avoid making social media communications that could damage your business interests or reputation, even indirectly. As such, employees who can be shown to have left negative reviews whilst employed can be subject to disciplinary action. Of course, an employer would need to take careful steps to ensure a proper investigation is carried out in order to demonstrate that the review was indeed left by the employee in question.
This, however, will not stop ex-employees from leaving negative reviews after their employment has terminated
A court in California has recently ordered Glassdoor to disclose the identity of users who had left several negative reviews against Zuru, a New Zealand-based toymaker. Read more about the Zuru -v- Glassdoor case.
How Moore Barlow can help
If you suspect a former employee has left a review after having entered into settlement agreement, which has a confidentiality clause or specifies that as part of the terms of the settlement they are prohibited from making disparaging comments about the business or its staff the employee in question may be in breach of said agreement and you could potentially be entitled to recover any compensation which has been paid.
If you think an employee has breached the terms of your employee handbook, or a former employee has breached the terms of their settlement agreement, contact our business employment law team for advice.
