the importance of a social media policy in the workplace

The Importance of a Social Media Policy in the Workplace

www.blandslaw.com.au

Vivienne Storey, General Manager

Who Are BlandsLaw?

• Boutique law firm with core expertise in Industrial Relations / employment law.

• We use social media as a key part of our marketing strategy to co-create niche communities & demonstrate credibility:– @mysocialpolicy, #agchatoz, @irlawyeraus– Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Slideshare– 3 blogs


Scope of Presentation.

• Part 1: Why every business needs a social media policy?

• Part 2: Considerations in writing a social media policy.

• Part 3: Implementation – how do you get the message across the organisation?


Gotta Love Stats

Recent Newspoll survey commissioned by Symantec:•Despite nearly 50% of Australian workplaces banning social media during office hours, 24% of workers engage in social networking at work anyway.

From “Australians are busy social networkers….at work” by Josie Chun Career FAQs Resource Centre



Twitter has 50% more activity on weekdays than on weekend days. Facebook is the most popular way to share information, followed by email, then Twitter

Part 1. Why have a Social Media Policy?

Ideally – A social media policy should effectively be pre-approval for your employees to engage on-line in “real time”.


1. Protecting Your Organisation(and your employees?)

• Ban: doesn’t work. Employees can still engage on social media on smartphones and find ways to circumvent the restrictions on the internet.

• Why would you want to ban social media? It is a great tool for your business.

• You need a policy in place to give employees some guidance and as an employer, some recourse if things go wrong.


2. Growing Your Business• Imagine having all your employees as PR

advocates of your organisation?• A social media policy frees up employees

to use social media under clear direction.


3. A Tool for Engagement & Training

• Social media is an important tool in employee engagement.

• Younger workers in particular have been reported as not considering working for a company that bans social networking.

• Training is the single most important factor in risk management – “public & permanent”



How on earth do I put this together?

Part 2: Considerations in Writing a Social Media Policy (1)

1. Decide whose in Charge2. Put together a “social media team”3. Define the the purpose of the policy4. Incorporate the social media strategy


Considerations In Writing a Social Media Policy (2)

• How do you manage social media accounts?• Incorporate existing company policies• Use appropriate language• Appropriate use of social media• Keep the document succinct• Summarise with guidelines• Budget• Monitoring• Crisis Management


Legal Considerations

• You need to be aware of some legal considerations when developing a social media policy such as:– Privacy issues (both employer and employee)– Monitoring– Brand, reputation and IP protection– Confidentiality issues


Legal Considerations

• Additionally, you need to understand that unless you have a policy in place, you may find it hard to discipline staff for what you consider to be inappropriate use of social media.

• This is a general employment law consideration.


Legal Considerations-Examples

• Workplace Surveillance Act 2005 (NSW)– S17: you cannot block internet access to

particular websites unless you are acting in accordance with a policy already in place.

– S16 you cannot monitor employees when they are ‘not at work’.

– S10 you must notify employees in the appropriate form if you plan to monitor them.


• Will you differentiate between who may “write about the company” and “on behalf of” the company?

• Who owns the company’s social media accounts?

• Will you have a system of naming social media accounts? – Consistent message?

• Disclaimers / identifiers for personal accounts?


Issues to Consider

Issues to Consider Cont.

• How do you retain ownership of accounts – or doesn’t this matter?

• What is acceptable to discuss about the organisation on personal social media accounts?

• Linkage between private and company accounts – eg don’t “friend” clients

• Usage of logos or trademarks online


Part 3: Implementation


How do you get the message across the organisation?

Level 1, Byfield StNorth Ryde, NSW, 2113PH: 02 9805 5600www.blandslaw.com.autwitter.com/mysocialpolicy


the importance of a social media policy in the workplace

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