Here are 10 helpful tips for preventing employee issues relating to employee use of the internet at work to access social media sites from the website of Fisher & Phillips, LLP, Attorneys at Law.
These tips may help you to think about how to begin to craft your own internet usage policy which could encompass areas such as social media, and employee internet use.
1. Get familiar with Facebook, Linked In or other sites that are
popular with your employees.
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2. Update current company policies.
3. Consider whether your company environment needs a specific social media policy.
4. Prohibit use of the employee’s company e-mail address.
5. Discourage your managers from “friending” their subordinate
employees.
6. Immediately get a copy of any post that is the subject of a
complaint.
7. Only use social media for employment screening in a consistent
way.
8. Warn managers to follow standard policies for recommendations
on Linked In or other professional sites.
9. Be aware of possible protected, concerted activity.
10. Above all, use common sense.
Whether you have concerns about personal internet use at work, or you want to monitor your business internet use, there are effective, and budget friendly tools available for small businesses that can help you monitor inappropriate internet use.
Dianne Shaddock
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Hello Diane!
I couldn’t agree more with tip #10. I think that as managers, employers, HR professionals, we sometimes lose our focus when it comes to social media because it’s such a new realm in todays business culture.
Overall, the above tips are sound, the only one that I would completely disagree with is #7. Employers should refrain from using social media as a screening tool no matter how consistent because it makes them privy to information that may be lawfully protected especially when it comes to screening a potential employee.
-Ernesto Tamayo
I probably should have mentioned that there are companies dedicated to sifting through a candidates social media sites and presenting a report to employers that does not include any sensitive information that could haunt the employer. One such company is Social Intelligence.
-Ernesto Tamayo
Thanks for your feedback Ernesto. I have to admit in response to your thoughts regarding tip #7 that I tend to always err on the side of caution as an HR practitioner. Employers should walk into using social media as a screening tool with their eyes wide open. If an action doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t.