The importance of a Social Media policy in the workplace

The issue of Gary Lineker’s comments on Twitter has abated but it leaves us to consider an important issue relating to Social Media policies in the workplace. Instances where individuals post their own views on social media highlight the significance of employers having in place effective social media policies and procedures in place to protect their reputations.

Having a well-drafted workplace social media policy in place can help protect a business’ public perception and provides clarification to employees as to what is and what is not expected of them when using social media. An employer should take into consideration the conduct it expects of its employees in work/offline situations and then apply this to online use. It should specify what a business deems to be acceptable and unacceptable when using social media in the workplace with a clear distinction between business and personal use.

Within the policy, it is essential to outline the investigatory and disciplinary procedures if the policy is breached in any way, whether that is suspected to have taken place on the employees’ private or work social media.

Should you wish a policy to be developed for your business, contact 121 HR Solutions on 0800 995 121 to discuss further.