SOCIAL MEDIA
US – With social media the rage in the workplace, more companies have disciplined their employees for abusing their time spent on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
According to a survey by Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE) and Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA), 42% of compliance and ethics professionals had disciplined employees for behaving inappropriately on social networking sites. This is a jump from 24% reported in 2009 when the first survey was conducted.
Even though some have fired employees for Facebook rants and privacy violations, only 31% of organisations have implemented policies on using social media outside of work.
Currently, 47% allow employees to access LinkedIn at work, 32% let staff surf Facebook and 31% allow Twitter in the office. Only 35% deny employees access to the latter two sites at work.
Jody Katz Pritikin, attorney for Katz Consulting & Associates in the US, said preventing social media abuse is dependent on implementing a strict policy on corporate values. She said companies can list statements on the social media responsibilities they expect employees to own.
Here are a few examples:
- The use of social media at work is a privilege that comes with responsibilities.
- Social media use must not interfere with the optimum performance of your job.
- Do not use social media to harass or discriminate.
- Do not share trade secrets and confidential information on social media sites.
- The company owns the systems and the hardware and will monitor use of systems and the hardware.
- The company expects your loyalty. (Don't disparage our people or our products — but this does not prevent you from talking about conditions of work).
- The company expects high ethical standards and/or has a code of conduct.
- You may be subject to discipline or termination for violation of this policy.
Pritikin added that employers need to enforce their social media policies “consistently and fairly”. She said all disciplinary actions should be documented and any exceptions to the rules have to be justified.
Roy Snell, chief executive of SCCE and HCCA, said, "At the same time we must be very careful not to stifle social media, one of the most effective business tools we have."
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