Unless you live under a rock, you’ve become very aware that the social networking phenomenon has found its way into the workplace resulting in decreased employee productivity, employee abuse of company time and other types of employee misconduct. Other types of misconduct, risk and/or threats include but are limited to the following:
- Harassment
- Title VII Violations
- Defamation
- Disclosure of Trade Secrets
- Union Organizing
- Violence
- Slacking (abuse of company time)
Employees are using multiple sites for their online socializing such as:
- Facebook
- Linkedin
- Mysay
- YouTube
- Twitter
- MySpace
- Iratemyday
- Moodmill
Employers should have a policy in place to regulate, and even prohibit, employees from engaging in online social networking activities while on company time and property. A Social Media Policy should address the following:
- Cover all web activities such as: Social Networking; Blogging; YouTube; Bulletin Boards and Chat Rooms
- Affirmative guidelines for on-duty and off-duty web use
- Prohibited conduct
- Permit/prohibit use of company resources
- Disciplinary action to be taken including but no limited to immediate termination for violations of policy
- Compliance monitoring by employer
Employers are able to better manage and control legal risks and threats related to online social networking by having a policy in place for employees to follow while on and off-duty.
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