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

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