Why it is vital all employers have a transparent social media policy

A column for outside contributors. Contact: agenda@theherald.co.uk

BUSINESSES recognise social media creates opportunities to positively enhance reputation and brand, but it’s not without risks. Research suggests around 30 per cent of employees have posted a work status update and 50 per cent have befriended a colleague; the workplace and social media have truly collided.

Professional use of social media, whether this is the company’s own website, intranet or third party platforms, can be an asset to a business and can be a real opportunity to share employee insight with customers and clients. But engagement doesn’t come without challenges and it can present employers with new problems as well as magnify existing ones.

The very immediate and wide audience social media reaches means employee posts, blogs or opinion can be easily linked to their employer, exposing them to potentially serious legal liabilities, such as: • Discrimination – including protected characteristics such as religious and political beliefs; • Bullying or harassment; • Disclosure of confidential information and security breaches; • Damage to reputation and brand; • A loss of productivity because of time spent by employees on social media sites while at work.

The rise of Smart phones and handheld devices for instant communication combined with pressurised working environments, also presents new challenges for employers. Social media networks often evolve more quickly than business practices and employers consequently find themselves outpaced by technology and unsure how to reduce risk exposure.

Employers must navigate the balancing act between maintaining control of employee behaviour whilst at the same time recognising privacy rights and the positive use of social media. To help mitigate risks, it’s vital in today’s workplace to have a social media policy. Even if a company has no social media presence, employees may be creating one by their actions online.

By having a social media policy and procedures in place, it should set out clear standards of conduct and performance; give examples of appropriate and inappropriate use; and marry up with existing policies. Also by regularly reviewing and revising the social media policy, businesses can also keep their internal regulations up to speed with the constant technological advances.

There isn’t a one size fits all approach. Different employers will have different priorities and risk factors. The important points are to make sure the policy is as clear as possible; that it is easy to find and accessible to all; and lastly educate your employees on the social media policy with training sessions.

The extent to which employers can monitor the social media activities of employees, prospective employees and ex-employees is regulated by law. Monitoring employees’ use of social media is tricky. Communication is key and management needs to be transparent and open with staff, explaining the level of monitoring whilst at work.

These days many employers take an active regulated approach to social media and recognise blocking access at work can be a missed opportunity. Furthermore, many generation Y employees consider access to social media to be a right and may perceive employers who block social media access at work do not trust staff to behave appropriately. Each employer needs to carefully consider the different implications that each social media network presents and manage the risks accordingly.

Employers need to make a distinction between an employees’ private life, which cannot be controlled by the employer and their work activities, which it can control. It’s essential this is communicated, being quite clear on the differentiation between what constitutes personal and professional use.

Above all, employers need to ensure that if employees are posting personal comments, then they are clear these are personal opinions and not representative of the business.

And if an employer relies upon social media posts to make recruitment decisions without enabling an applicant to comment on such material then there is also the potential for discrimination complaints. An applicant may claim unfair treatment because of political or religious beliefs. Jonathan Rennie is employment partner at law firm TLT.