Social liability

LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter have made it possible for anyone, anywhere, to distribute information about who they are and what they’re doing to hundreds, if not thousands, of individuals. If you want people to know what’s happening in your business, this means opportunity. If you’d prefer to keep some things quiet, it could mean danger.

“It’s important for employers to set social networking policies because with the benefits of social networking come significant risks,” says Laura Friedel, a partner in the Labor and Employment Service Group at Levenfeld Pearlstein, LLC. “Employees will use social networking sites regardless of whether their employers want them to or not. By putting a policy in place, and following it, employers help control their risk in this area.”

Smart Business spoke with Friedel about some of the areas of risk for employers and how to proactively address them.

How do companies benefit from having a social networking policy in place?

Having a social networking policy not only protects you, the employer, but also helps employees to understand the expectations and the implications of their actions. Explicitly outlining your policies — and including them as part of training — puts everyone on the same page. If you haven’t updated your policies recently, make that a priority. With the rapid development of new social networking tools, policies can quickly become outdated. If your business’s computer policy is more than a year old, it’s quite possible that it does not adequately reflect the electronic issues that are facing your company right now.

How should a social networking policy address employee monitoring and privacy concerns?

A policy should clearly state that the company may monitor activity on social networking sites and on the Internet, and that employees should have no expectation of privacy in statements that they make in these forums. Having this position in writing puts you in a far better position if you uncover electronic information that you want to use. This is a critical point because cases frequently turn on whether the employee had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the communications at issue.

How should your social networking policy address harassment?

In certain circumstances, the interactions of your employees online could be considered harassment. Employees should be made aware that the company’s prohibitions on harassing, discriminatory and retaliatory conduct in the workplace also prohibit that type of behavior online to the extent that it relates to the workplace or those associated with it. Companies should investigate claims of Internet or social networking harassment as they would other harassment that relates to employees or the workplace. Finally, because discrimination and harassment issues are particularly troublesome when they involve managers and subordinates, companies should consider prohibiting managers from becoming ‘friends,’ ‘followers’ or ‘contacts’ of their subordinates.