Do you need a social media policy?
The boundaries between personal and professional have become increasingly blurred due to the growing prevalence of internet-based social media, including Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter. While social media outlets may be excellent platforms for employees to network and promote their employer’s business, a myriad of problems may result from an employee’s improper or unlawful use of a company’s name, reputation or confidential information while using such social media.
If an employee uses an employer’s name or a company e-mail address to communicate with or otherwise use social media, a third-party may be led to believe that the employee is speaking or writing on behalf of the company. A third-party may think that the employee is acting in an official capacity with authority to bind the employer, or that certain views espoused by the employee are also the views of the company.
For this reason and others, the FTC has implemented rules effective Dec. 1, 2009, regulating the use of testimonials in advertising. Under these rules an employer may be held responsible for employee maintained blogs or other employee postings about the employer’s products and services. In an effort to avoid these problems, a social media policy may direct employees in such situations to use a disclaimer explicitly stating that his or her views are not those of the employer.
Read about additional factors that should be considered when implementing a social media policy — such as employment duty conflicts, confidentiality, intellectual property, performance feedback, workplace privacy and the employer’s right to monitor — by subscribing to the HR, Benefits & Payroll News, a free monthly news bulletin that features industry news, trends and best practices for HR and payroll professionals.
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