Social Media Policy Essential in the Workplace
A recent Fair Work Australia decision shows that all businesses must have a social media policy. In the decision involving a Linfox employee, the Fair Work Australia Commissioner said that it was “not sufficient” for Linfox not to have a social media policy in this current digital age.
Read more about the decision: “Not good enough to have no social media policy”.
This poses the question of how many employers actually take social media seriously? Social media is now blurring the lines between what is public and private information. It is essential that employers understand that social media is an important issue, and provide guidelines for employees around what is acceptable/not acceptable content to publish.
There are a number of issues involving social media, employers and employees. Here are some questions to consider:
- Should employees have access to social media platforms in the workplace?
- If so, how & when?
- If not, will this affect employee morale?
- What about outside work hours?
- What about employees who are responsible for developing social media platforms on behalf of the employer?
The social media issue is multifaceted, problematical and every hard to control.
Any employee who publishes content about their employer on their personal social media platforms needs to remember that this information is public information. It is different to venting your spleen at the pub with mates where only a handful of individuals will hear what you say. Once something is posted online it can go ‘viral’ and therefore you loose control of who actually sees the message. If this information is negative it can affect an employer’s reputation and therefore employees need to be careful what they say.
Employers can’t control employees using social media platforms outside work hours. This is fine if nothing is written about the employer, however, guidelines are needed in respect to what employees can say/not say when publishing personal comments about their employer. It is an issue that needs to be taken seriously by employers or experience the consequences.
For more information, this article I wrote a couple of months ago may be useful – “Social Media and the Workplace”.
What do others think?
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