21 MARCH 2012
The need for employers to have a clear social media policy in place and to review it regularly has been highlighted in recent cases where employers have sought to take disciplinary action for what are claimed to be ‘personal posts’ on media such as Facebook and Twitter.
Failure to not only have a policy in place, but also to acquaint employees with those policies may negatively impact on your business’ brand and reputation should an unacceptable comment be published, but also make disciplinary action unsuccessful.
Every organisation should have a social media policy that includes amongst other things:
- A description of the social media that is covered by the policy;
- Clarification of which employees the policy applies to;
- Guidelines as to when it is appropriate to access social media websites during business hours;
- Clear parameters as to what is and is not acceptable to be published on the social media site;
- A requirement that employees behave consistently with the employers policies on matters such as confidentiality, privacy, discrimination and harassment when using social media.
We recommend that you specify disciplinary procedures and undertake and retain evidence of regular training of employees in relation to the policies you put in place. If you already have a policy in place, this may serve as a timely reminder to review the policy given the fast changing nature of social media.
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[contactsbox] [leftcolumn]Contact Partner: Tracey Miley
Direct Telephone : 07 3210 5780
Mobile Telephone : 0438 776 161
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