With social media use now ubiquitous, it’s important that you consider how your staff could impact your business through their social media use and comments.
Many businesses now have social media policies in place that extend not only to corporate accounts but also to the personal conduct of team members online. These lay out what is and isn’t acceptable for employees to post online.
Social media policies typically benefit businesses as they avoid bringing the business into disrepute through connection to an employee who has posted something offensive, inciting or violent.
Since we’re all connected on every platform, it’s easy to see where someone works. For example, if an employee has a LinkedIn profile, this may be found using their name from their personal accounts.
It is therefore natural for businesses to want an oversight of what goes on online where their staff are concerned – but is this allowed? Our experts take a look.
The primary goal of a social media policy is to avoid causing damage to the company or harm to a team or staff member through an employee’s conduct online.
A key part of this is to encourage staff to take individual and collective responsibility for what they post online and to recognise when something is potentially harmful.
This also involves outlining what is and is not acceptable. Examples of unacceptable or questionable conduct may include:
These are the situations that your social media policy should cover. It should outline the disciplinary process that your business may take if someone is found to have breached the policy, as well as the process for reporting.
It’s important that your team knows how to engage with social media in a measured way – but it’s also important that you understand the rights of your employees to discuss their lives and beliefs on personal social media accounts.
You must be careful that you do not, for example, dismiss someone over a social media post in which they reveal or speak about a protected characteristic. This may include:
This can be construed as discrimination, and you may find yourself in front of a Tribunal.
Additionally, you should avoid telling your team members not to post about a topic because, for example, a supervisor or client disagrees with them – unless the post breaks the law, relates to company social media accounts or directly brings the company into disrepute.
The best way to adopt and enforce your social media policy is to be objective and consider the issue from all angles.
Make sure that your policy is:
In this way, you can create a policy that respects freedom of expression while protecting all team members and the business from harmful media attention.
For advice on developing your social media policy, please contact our team today to get started.
