Public employees do not give up all First Amendment rights to free speech simply because they work for the government. If you are a public employee, you still have a First Amendment right to speak out on important issues of public concern. However, your government employer also has an interest in promoting an effective and efficient workplace. So there may be limits on your free speech rights. Here are some general guidelines to help public employees better understand their Free Speech rights.
Who is a Public Employee?
You are a public employee if you work for any federal, state, or local government entity, agency or department. Teachers and other people who work for public school districts and public colleges and universities are also public employees.
As a Public Employee can I make public comments about current events?
The short answer is: It depends. As a general matter, if you are speaking
as a private citizen,
about a matter of public concern, and
your speech does not interfere with your job,
then your speech is protected. However, there are exceptions.
When might speech by a Public Employee fall outside First Amendment protections?
If your comments are about a personnel dispute or internal grievance, rather than an issue of social, political, or other concern to the community, your speech is likely not protected.
If you are making comments as part of your official job duties or in your official capacity as a public employee, the First Amendment likely does not protect your statements (there are some limited exceptions for teachers or professors who express their views while teaching in the classroom).
Even if you are making comments as a private citizen on your personal time, if the comments disrupt your employer’s interest in an efficient workplace, the speech may not enjoy First Amendment protections. The extent of any disruption is balanced against the public employee’s interest in the speech in question.
What about social media posts?
Whether or not your social media posts are protected depends, again, on the facts of the situation. The same guidelines above that apply to all public comments also apply to statements on social media. A public employer may exercise oversight over any post made to an account as part of your official duties, whether you post to an official social media account, or another account created to promote your employer. This means a public employer might have grounds to discipline a public employee for making an official social media statement that diverges from the public employer’s official policy.
For a post made as a private individual about current events, your interest in exercising your right to free speech is weighed against your employer’s interest in preventing disruption. Public employees would be wise to exercise caution when posting to social media accounts about issues that could affect your work. Consider making your account private or verifying your followers to limit who can see your posts.
It is important to check your employer’s policies and your employment contract, if any, to see if there are rules about posting on social media.
IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THESE GUIDELINES ARE NOT LEGAL ADVICE.
These general guidelines are offered to help public employees better understand their First Amendment rights. If you think your rights have been violated, you should seek legal advice
For more information see:
https://www.acludc.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/free_speech_fed_employees_kyr.pdf
https://www.naacpldf.org/five-rights-federal-workers/
https://www.nyclu.org/resources/know-your-rights/speaking-out-public-employee