Establish a social media policy
For the London Free Press – November 28, 2011 – Read this on Canoe
Social media blurs the lines between the personal and work life of employees, and employers are faced with the difficult task of regulating its use in and out of the workplace.
Social media can be beneficial for a business. It can be used for advertising, marketing, networking and keeping in touch with customers. On the other hand, it can be detrimental to a business if employees use social media to criticize their employers, customers or the products they sell.
Over a year ago, a Best Buy employee in Missouri was almost fired for making a video that portrayed an electronics store employee trying to convince someone to buy a phone other than an iPhone.
The video didn’t identify Best Buy, but the employee was suspended and almost fired because Best Buy found the video was “openly disparaging of our employees, our customers and our vendor partners.”
In September, a Starbucks barista from California was fired after he made a video of himself singing. In the song, called The Starbucks Rant Song, he makes fun of customers, products and the company.
Three months after it was posted on YouTube, Starbucks found out about it and fired him. Even though the barista said the video was just an attempt at satire, his lyrics were certainly a criticism of his employer.
In these two situations, both videos were made outside of the workplace. The question is whether they cross a line that allows an employer to do something about it.
The American National Labor Relations Board released a report on the outcome of investigations into cases involving use of social media. The board took the position regardless of whether there is a social media policy, an employer “can’t discipline employees who discuss workplace responsibilities and performance together online, even if the online conversation includes swearing or insults.”
It also states if a business does have a policy, they should “make sure it does not try to control what employees can say and cannot say about the company. If it does, you can be in trouble with the NLRB.”
That perspective rings true in Canada as well. But that’s not to say employees have free reign to say whatever they want on personal social media channels. If an employee discloses an employer’s confidential information in a tweet, the employer would have cause for concern no different than if the employee said it in a work e-mail.
But if the employee is criticizing his or her employer, or stating a personal opinion that might be different than management’s — the employer’s best response may be to do nothing.
A good way to reduce chances of misuse of social media is to have a social media policy that sets expectations. A tool to create a social media policy can be found at policytool.net.
