ESG republic HR, Payroll, Benefits, and Workers' Comp. Blog

Why Your Employee Handbook Should Have A Social Media Policy.

  

  

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Having a Social Media Policy in your Employee Handbook is very important in our new online world.

One reason you want a Social Media Policy is to protect your company information. If you have confidential information within your company you want to ensure that your employee’s are not posting confidential information online. Posting proprietary information on how to make a product or certain company information is confidential information. Because Social Media outlets are viewed by many people, an employer wants to make sure their information is protected. So having a social media policy which outlines the dos and don’ts will help regulate how employees appropriately use social media in the workplace.

The number two reason why an employer should have a social media policy is to set guidelines. A question an employer should ask themselves is; what is acceptable? Such as, on a blog. What is acceptable on a social networking personal site? You want to ensure if someone does have his or her own personal blog or personal networking site, you want to outline what is acceptable. Also, outline if employees do identify themselves as employees of your company, you want to make sure it’s in a positive light, without any negative commentary. Make sure you outline a set of rules and guidelines of what’s acceptable within the policy.

The third reason why you should have a social media policy is to protect yourself from claims. Claims is a broad statement used here. Claims can be about unemployment claims, wrongful termination claims, and possibly some wage and hour claims as well. In regards to unemployment claims, if you have a social media policy and it’s evident an employee has violated this policy, more than likely this employee will be denied and therefore will not receive unemployment benefits.

Having a social media policy can also protect you from wrongful termination claims. If an employer outlines the rules and guidelines for the use of social media in the workplace, a claim for wrongful termination is less likely.

To be proactive, we recommend contacting an HR Outsourcing company(ESG republic) and working with them to see what kind of social media policy your company needs. There are certain industries or jobs where you may not be on the computer or have access to cell phones all day. So a social networking policy may not be as needed. But if social networking is a part of the way you do business, then an employer needs to start looking at certain resources and look at what works best in your organization.

In this day and age, if your organization is utilizing social media as a marketing tool, a Social Media policy is needed so you can monitor what employees are posting or doing on social media networking sites.