How far can and should employers go to guide employees’ social networking activities to prevent or reduce employment-related problems?
That’s a question Gene Connors answers in “Here are 10 Social Media Commandments for Employers,” which originally appeared in Workforce Management. He proposes 10 social networking commandments that he says should “enable employees to enjoy social media without employer static and interference.” They are:
1. Influence appropriate work-connected behavior and use by employees with a social media or networking policy.
2. Use your social media policy to set employee boundaries.
3. Echo important employment considerations in your social media policy.
4. Consent for monitoring is crucial, but “sell” it to employees.
5. Always use the least intrusive search available.
6. Seek only necessary work-related information.
7. Be yourself. Never pretend to be someone or something else to access and get information from a site.
8. Know and obey applicable law.
9. Act to protect. Discovery of dangerous or damaging information on a site demands immediate and effective action tailored to the particular facts.
10. Be a bit paranoid. There is a fine line between being sensitive and just a little paranoid. You should cross it often to remain diligent, aware and — it is hoped — safe and secure in protecting your business, your fine reputation, your employees and their morale.
Connors elaborates most about the fourth commandment, noting that obtaining a “signed or implied employee consent regarding the workplace use of social media” is a must. “Monitoring employee use of social media without clear consent is like walking into a New York City bar with an unregistered handgun in the waistband of your sweatpants with the safety off. Things can happen, but nothing good,” he explains.
To sell employees on a company’s social media policy, Connors suggests providing examples of “valuable, acceptable” use of social media; alerting employees to stories of how new Internet “friends” are not always who they say they are; providing specific examples of acceptable and unacceptable social networking; asking employees to reverse roles — “Imagine if an employee said this about you;” and providing easy-to-understand guidelines.
Signed consent is more likely to hold up in court, but implied consent is the norm for large workforces. Under the latter, a new policy is electronically and physically posted, and employees who continue working after the policy’s effective date are considered to have implied their consent by remaining with the company.
What happens if an employee rants against the employer or reveals company secrets on his or her Facebook page while at home? That is apparently covered in the example policy Connors provides, which states, “I understand that monitoring can extend beyond company-provided equipment and my at-work time to off-site social electronic sites such as MySpace, and to any Twitter or other social media account I maintain or visit.”
“Every employer needs a simply worded social media policy to provide employees with practical guidelines to help prevent unthinking, harmful employee actions,” writes Connors. “Having no such policy is like having no curfew for teenagers”
The SSN take: Some well-stated ground rules and straight talk up front can prevent lots of headaches down the line.
John Sniffen, March 25, 2010
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