Social Media and the Legal Implications

• Setting your company philosophy
• Real Life examples
• Q&A
• Sample Policies

How do I diffuse the fear and threat around Social Media -

• Through policy - but what about the policy that is too restrictive? What does that do to your employees morale?
• Use competitors examples to open up policy

Very few HR attendees have a social policy in place. Some arguments

• Low productivity argument: If you have good perf. measurements in place, it doesn't matter if emp. are on social media.
• Harrassment Argument: YOu already have a harrassment policy
• Employee Critisim - labor relations act - you cannot prevent your employees from talking about the workplace and policies.

Speaker thinks we can manage the cons and the pro outweight the arguments

You need to look at guiding principles - what will be your policy:

1. Build in a respect for confidentiality and propritary knowledge.

2. Have some sort of standard for truth. Know the difference between fact and opinion - journalist style rules. "I don't speak from mgt, but this is what I think...."

3. Know and have Confidentiality

4. Use Common sense

5. Transparancy - do not make anonyomous posts

6. Accountablity - protect clients, customers, employees protect their interests. You will pledge to track social media.

Good point - not everyone stays and what happens when they leave and post things about the company?

New Term - E-Discovery - what happens when lawyers dig into your digital past for evidence. So watch out what you post on FB, could come back to haunt you.

Write in cooporation into your policy that if you use the companies resources you have to provide your passwords.....um, wow.

Q and A session -

There are some things that are protected when HR is using SM to investigate applicants - there could be discrimination that happens when people view pictures, read religious or sexual orientation things about you.