Social Media and the Workplace: How Employers Can Avoid Legal and Ethical Issues

Introduction

When used appropriately, social media can have a positive impact on workplaces. It can help employees feel more connected to their company and boost productivity. A Pew Research Center survey shows that 80% of employees in the U.S. use social media in the workplace. However, when used unethically, these platforms can pose legal and ethical risks for employers. Social media has also opened the doors for digital discrimination against job applicants. Previously, employers had no knowledge of an applicant’s appearance before an interview. Read on to learn more about how you can use social media in the workplace ethically and legally.

Get Familiar with Social Media Platforms

Before you implement policies or train staff on how to use social media, you should thoroughly understand the features of the various platforms. This will allow you to screen posts for content that poses risk and will help you to educate employees on how to engage appropriately on each platform.

There are many different platforms, each with unique features and purposes. It’s imperative to understand how each platform works and the impact that it can have on your organization. For example, platforms like Indeed and Glassdoor allow current and former employees to provide insights and rate your organization as an employer in several key areas. Monitoring these employer review sites can help you identify internal weak points and can help you spot concerns that may not have been brought to your attention through your internal complaint process.

 

Know Your Company's Social Media Policies

Every organization has its own set of policies, but some are more common than others. Make sure you understand your company’s social media policies and abide by them. If there are no policies in place, consider bringing this up with your HR representative or leadership team. There may be good reasons why they aren’t present, but you should know what those reasons are. Some common policies include:

  • Employees should use their best judgment when posting/sharing
  • Refrain from speaking on behalf of the organization without prior approval
  • Employees should not friend current/potential clients/customers
  • Inform management if a customer is being unprofessional etc.

 

The first three points speak for themselves, but the last one is particularly important. If an angry customer posts a nasty comment on Facebook, Twitter or any other social media site, don’t argue back. Instead, notify your manager as soon as possible.

Keep Staff Informed with Updated Social Media Training

Having even the best social media policies in the world means nothing if they are not understood by everyone within the organization. You should provide all employees with thorough training on the details of the organization’s social media policies and how to use social media platforms ethically. For example, you should inform employees not to use profanity, vulgarity or any other insensitive language in content that represents the organization’s brand. You should provide guidance on what types of posts are appropriate at work and what types aren’t. You should also provide training on how to publish posts that abide by the company’s external code of conduct. For example, you should inform employees not to publish posts that are discriminatory, vulgar or slanderous. You should also provide guidance on what types of pictures are aligned with the organization’s external code of conduct for posting outside of work and what types aren’t.

Avoid Using Social Media to Screen Applicants

Many employers turn to social media to screen job applicants. This practice is technically legal if the employer is only viewing public content. That being said, using social media to screen applicants increases the risk of violating anti-discrimination laws and could be grounds for a lawsuit.

For example, say you review an applicant’s social media profile and everything looks fine, but you see an announcement that the applicant is pregnant. You know that it’s illegal to discriminate against a pregnant applicant, but you find yourself feeling concerned that the applicant will go on leave for an extended period. Unconscious bias can have a negative impact on everyone’s decision-making at times and by extension, the hiring process.

If you choose to make checking social media part of your hiring process it’s a good idea to have a social media screening policy, standardized metrics for social media screenings and to use an independent third-party service provider who’s well versed in employment law. The service provider can conduct the review and provide only information directly related to performing in the role to minimize the potential of bias impacting the hiring process and mitigate risk.

Don't Ask Applicants for Their Username or Password to Social Media

Never ask job applicants or employees for their usernames or passwords to their social media account(s). This could result in discrimination against applicants/employees and open the company up to legal troubles. Instead, you can use a background-screening service to look up the information from public sources. Some even offer services that allow you to search public posts without accessing the account. This can help you avoid asking for passwords and still gain access to the information you desire.

If you do ask for passwords, you are not only violating privacy laws in many states, but you are putting yourself and the company at risk for claims of identity theft. It is easy to hack into someone’s account if they provide you with their password. Employers are not allowed to ask applicants or employees for their username/passwords to social media accounts and they are prohibited from requiring access to private content on social media in nearly half the states in the U.S.

Don't Require Employees to Engage with Members of the Public on Social Media

You cannot require your employees to engage with members of the public on social media using their personal accounts. You may want your employees to participate in social media groups or to engage in discussions with members of the public on social media. However, you cannot require them to do so.

Don't Require Employees or Former Employees to Make Changes to Their Personal Social Media Profiles

With the ever-growing use of social media, many employers are tempted to require current and/or former employees to make changes to their personal social media profiles. In many ways, this practice is a bad idea or at least should be done with caution. 

  • Federal laws protect employees who engage in “concerted activity” on social media platforms to increase their pay, improve working conditions, or resolve other workplace problems. An attempt to stifle such speech poses risks for your organization.

  • Several states have deemed it illegal for an employer to require applicants and employees to grant access to private social media content.

  • When an employee leaves a company they may have forgotten their login information, don’t deem it important or have various other reasons for not updating their work history on social media platforms. Former employers have no authority to force ex-employees to change the content on their personal social media profiles. It’s best practice to consult with legal counsel to determine if reaching out to the ex-employee to request the desired change is a good option. Some social media platforms like LinkedIn have a process for filing a notice of inaccurate profile information that may help you in this situation.

Conclusion

Social media is a great tool for businesses, but it can also present some legal and ethical issues if not used properly. Before utilizing social media in the workplace, you should be familiar with your company’s policies and have a clear idea of how each platform operates. You should also make sure employees are properly trained on how to use social media correctly. While these tips are very helpful the information provided does not and is not intended to constitute legal advice. You should contact your attorney to get advice with relation to any particular legal matter. For more information about social media in the workplace contact us at support@loudnerd.com.