Social media rules for employees

Gazette Editorial Board

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Years ago, employees might expect to receive a pink slip if they were caught publicly badmouthing their boss.

But the chance of the company brass finding out about a bad-day gripe was slim then compared with today, when a single negative tweet can be heard around the world.

In the age of social media, workplace gripes can become a permanent part of the media landscape - shared not only with a few trusted friends or co-workers, but available to competitors, prospective job applicants, financial backers and others.

Employers have good reasons to expect employees not to disparage their companies and workplaces through social media. It's also employers' responsibility to establish clear policies regarding social media use by employees.

And in cases where employees - feeling they have no other recourse - use social media to expose clearly dangerous or illegal practices within their company, it's employers, not the whistle-blowers, who should have to answer for the posts.

The issue is of growing concern: Since 2009, the National Labor Relations Board has reviewed more than 129 labor fairness cases involving social media and the workplace, a recent U.S. Chamber of Commerce study found.

The two most common complaints were about employer social media policies that were overly broad and the termination or discipline of employees over the content of their posts.

Many employers still have not adopted official policies governing employees' discussion of workplace issues on those sites.

SourceMedia Group, parent company of The Gazette, TheGazette.com, KCRG-TV9, KCRG.com and other ventures, adopted comprehensive social media rules last summer.

The rules prohibit employees from posting “illegal, disruptive, offensive, harassing or threatening messages,” disclosing confidential material or soliciting or advertising personal items for sale while the employee is at work. The policy lays out extra expectations for news staff, who must adhere to professional ethics, even off the clock.

It's not unreasonable for an employer to expect employees to keep confidential matters secure and refrain from trashing the organization online.

It is just as unreasonable to expect workers to read employers' minds regarding expectations about social media use.

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