Monthly Archives: January 2018

Social Media – the challenges in the workplace

Employers have huge opportunities with the growth in social media, which also poses challenges managing employees use.

Staff may be required to use social media as part of their work, such as marketing, and it is important to check any such usage is managed appropriately.

Should companies consider putting in a social media policy?
Different workplaces will have different views on whether to introduce a social media policy. A policy is useful to set out guidance and the possible consequences of acting in breach of the policy. It is also advisable to give your employees training on the appropriate use of social media so they cannot argue they did not understand it.

What about contacts your employees build up during work?
Employees build up a significant list of contacts and followers via social media accounts. The question often is who owns this?
Employers should think about what business information employees are gathering in social media accounts. It is useful to have a clause in your employment contract being clear of who owns these contacts and the use of social media.

Monitoring
It is acceptable for an employer to have a policy which allows for reasonable monitoring of internet and email use. It is wise to have this as a separate consent for employees to sign so they are clear about this.

It is expected if an employer is going to discipline someone for misuse of social media that they are clear about the guidance and the consequences of not following this. The recent case law in this area shows that employment tribunals are more likely to find a dismissal for misuse of social media to be fair in circumstances where the employer has been cleared and explained this to employees.

We can help draft a social media policy for your employees and assist with trainingData Protection2

GDPR for Human Resource Depts – 6 months to go

With GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations) coming into effect in May 2018, Human Resource Departments are gearing up for fundamental changes to Data Protection regulations.

Below are some of the key changes that GDPR brings in which are particularly relevant for HR teams:

1. The conditions for obtaining valid consents are becoming much stricter. Employers should be wary of relying on blanket consent wording in an employment contract.

2.Increased transparency obligations, with emphasis on ensuring data subjects (workers, employees, consultants) know more about their rights, such as stronger subject access rights and the ‘right to be forgotten’.

3. A greater emphasis on privacy requirements. It is useful to have a Privacy Policy.

4. A new principle of ‘accountability’ is also introduced, requiring businesses not only to comply with the GDPR principles, but also to be able to demonstrate how they comply.

5. An obligation to notify the appropriate regulator (the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), in the event of a data breach within 72 hours if feasible.

In our next blog we will look at the documentation to put in place in good time for the new GDPR.