Creating an effective social media policy for employees can be a tricky task. Luckily, Causeway Premier Partners BeyondHR are experts in everything HR related. In this blog, they explain how to manage social media misconduct in the workplace. 

Social media is involved in many aspects of life, including the workplace. Employees share their opinions on various topics, some of which may include controversial content, or they may be using social media for a second income. Employers and managers may begin to see an increase in grievances relating to social media, if posts from employees are deemed as controversial content, it could potentially damage the company’s reputation especially if the person can be linked to the company on social channels.

Companies need to know how to manage social media misconduct in the workplace, this may result in difficult conversations with employees. If these situations are ignored, issues could arise further down the line

An example of where issues could arise is if a female employee posts inappropriate content on social channels and management doesn’t deal with this but further down the line, a male employee posts inappropriate content and action is taken, i.e., disciplinary leading to dismissal. The male employee may raise an unfair dismissal claim relating to sex discrimination using the example of the female posts and how there were no actions taken.

Social media misconduct in the workplace may also include an employee overusing social media during working hours or sharing images that include laptop screens breaching confidentiality.

Types of Misconduct on social media

1. Trolling or harassing individuals on social channels
2. Breaching company confidentiality
3. Posting content or comments that are discriminative
4. Posting opinions that may impact or damage the company’s reputation

Managing social media misconduct in the workplace

Reports of social media misconduct should be dealt with without delay and involve commencing an investigation into the alleged reports. The employee concerned should be invited to an investigation meeting, to establish their side, and discuss the alleged misconduct.

During the investigation meeting where the manager is highlighting the misconduct or discussing the issue, employees must be made aware of the possibility of disciplinary action being taken.

The manager should be gathering all evidence possible and determine the seriousness of the misconduct. Evidence may include screenshots of what has been posted on social media, including Instagram stories, comments on other people’s content, or screen recordings of video content.

The manager will need to establish if progression to a disciplinary hearing is a requirement, following the completion of the investigation.

A company can protect itself in these situations with a social media policy, managers should establish the seriousness of the misconduct through this policy. Many companies’ employee handbooks will state ‘improper use of the internet or email facilities’ as gross misconduct and result in the dismissal of the employee.

It’s becoming more important than ever to back up business policies with appropriate employee training on the subject.

Why your business needs a social media policy

A social media policy can protect a company and help when situations of social media misconduct arise. The rationale for executing a social media policy is to reduce the risk of employees damaging the reputation of the company.

BeyondHR’s HR consultants can help your business to implement or improve your social media policy, contact BeyondHR today for guidance, and Causeway Exchange members who sign up for BeyondHR’s service will receive their first 2 months free of charge.Social media is involved in many aspects of life, including the workplace. Employees share their opinions on various topics, some of which may include controversial content, or they may be using social media for a second income. Employers and managers may begin to see an increase in grievances relating to social media, if posts from employees are deemed as controversial content, it could potentially damage the company’s reputation especially if the person can be linked to the company on social channels.