The recent controversy
surrounding Young Crime Commissioner Paris Brown’s tweets, is only a recent
example of job-loss related to ill-judged comments in cyber-space. Even though
the tweets are not recent (they were tweeted 2/3 years ago) her digital
footprint has been uncovered and subsequently led to her resignation. With social
media being instantaneous, it is easy to fall into the trap of using it as a vehicle
for stream-of-consciousness and to forget that Social Networking sites are
public arenas and should be treated as such. With the increasing integration of
the likes of Twitter and Facebook into our lives, what are the implications in
the real world to what we say online?
In the Preece vs JD Wetherspoon tribunal, Ms. KC Preece
lost her job as Pub Manager at JD Wetherspoon in 2011 following posting derogatory
Facebook comments about two customers she had encountered. Her privacy settings
meant that anyone could see the comments and therefore was potentially damaging
to the company’s reputation. Consequently the company dismissed Ms. Preece for
Gross Mis-conduct. One argument is that we should be allowed freedom of speech
on our own social networking profiles, however employees should be careful that
their privacy settings and content fall in line with the clear guidelines set
out by employers to avoid potential damage.
On the other hand, it is not just employees who need to
be aware of the importance of setting out clear social media policy. In 2012,
the human resources executive John Flexman found grounds to claim constructive dismissal against his employers when challenged over
ticking a box on his LinkedIn profile which gave recruiters the ability to
contact him for “career opportunities”. Claiming that he felt as though he was
forced into resignation, Mr. Flexman went on to win the case against his former
company with the tribunal finding that they were guilty of a “serious
breach” of contract.
With the above examples it is clear to see the importance
of a clear social media policy to protect all parties and avoid expensive
repercussions. Quality HR Docs has set out clear advice guidelines
for both employees and employers to consider when creating a social media
policy to avoid anyone ‘putting their foot in it’ when leaving behind a digital
footprint:
- Changing the privacy settings on your profile so that only people you have accepted as friends can see your content.
- Reviewing who is on your ‘friends list’ on your personal profile. In most situations you should not accept friend requests on your personal profile from ‘clients’ you work with.
- Ensuring personal blogs have clear disclaimers that the views expressed by the author are theirs alone and do not represent the views of the Company. Make your writing clear that you are speaking for yourself and not on behalf of your company.
- Ensuring information published on the Internet complies with the Company’s confidentiality and data protection policies.
For the full Social
Media Policy document, please visit: qualityhrdocs.co.uk
For more information on social media policy, please
contact HR Response Ltd on 0115 9728708 or email info@hrresponse.co.uk
