This document discusses developing a social media policy for the workplace. It begins by defining social media and some popular sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. It then covers potential issues with social media use at work like reduced productivity and privacy concerns. The document provides guidance on developing an appropriate policy, including establishing expectations for appropriate use, interactions with coworkers and clients, and handling confidential information. It stresses tailoring the policy to individual workplaces while addressing risks from both under-regulating and over-regulating social media use.

1. SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY:
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING
FOR?
Curt Montague
Learning Technology Specialist,
Butzel Long
Social Media Strategist, Michigan
Diversity Council
Scott Patterson
Labor and Employment Attorney,
Butzel Long

2. TOPICS
 What is Social Media?
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Who uses Social Media?
 Social Media and the Workplace
Potential issues/benefits
Areas of Risk
Current Practices
 Developing a Social Networking Policy

3. WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA?
 Social Media and Social Networking have become
synonymous. Social Networking as defined on
Wikipedia, “is a social structure made of individuals
(or organizations) called "nodes," which are tied
(connected) by one or more specific types of
interdependency, such as friendship, kinship,
common interest, financial exchange, dislike,
relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.”
 We define social network sites as web-based
services that allow individuals to (1) construct a
public or semi-public profile within a bounded system,
(2)articulate a list of other users with whom they
share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their
list of connections and those made by others within
the system. The nature and nomenclature of these
connections may vary from site to site.
 – A paper “Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and
Scholarship” by Danah M. Boyd and Nicole B. Ellison

4. FACEBOOK
 Create a personal profile
 add other users as friends and exchange
messages, including automatic notifications
when they update their profile
 Social Games
 Groups
 “Like”
 Privacy

5. TWITTER
 140
 Hashtag
(#humanresources)
 Following
 Tweet
 DM
 RT
 @username
 Tweetup
 Shortened URLs

6. LINKEDIN
 Recruiting
 Networking
 Online Resume
 Twitter
 Blog
 Private
 Making
Connections

7. HOW MANY PEOPLE REALLY
USE SOCIAL MEDIA?
Over 500,000,000 users
Over 75,000,000 users
Over 60,000,000 members
Over 1 Billion
Views per day

8. WHO IS ON SOCIAL MEDIA?

9. SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE
WORKPLACE

10. POTENTIAL ISSUES
 Employee productivity
 Blending of work and personal lives
 Possibility for harassment and discrimination
 “Too much information”

11. POTENTIAL BENEFITS
 Marketing/business development
 Recruiting
 Hiring
 Investigatory tool
 Increased communication among
employees

12. AREAS OF RISK
 Hiring process
 Use as a tool for harassment
 Discrimination claims
 Retaliation claims

13. USE OF SOCIAL NETWORKING
IN THE HIRING PROCESS
 The internet and social networking sites can
be a valuable source of information
 It can also be a minefield of potential
problems
 You may use it, but be careful

14. USE OF SOCIAL NETWORKING
IN THE HIRING PROCESS
 How accurate is the information?
Do you even have the right person?
Much on social networking sites may not be what
it appears
 Exposure to information
– Medical and health information
– Disability status
– Genetic information
– Religion
– Other lifestyle information

15. USE OF SOCIAL NETWORKING
IN THE HIRING PROCESS
 Most employers have hiring practices which
try to avoid coming into possession of this
type of information prior to making a hiring
decision.
 Once the employer starts reviewing social
networking sites, many of those protections
can be lost.
 It is not per se prohibited to review public
social networking sites as part of the hiring
process; however, employers must be
aware of the risks and weigh them against
the benefits.

16. USE OF SOCIAL NETWORKING
IN THE HIRING PROCESS
 Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act
(GINA)
Prohibits employers from intentionally acquiring
genetic information regarding employees
Social Networking sites can have a wealth of
such information:
 Content of postings
 Family history
 Group memberships
EEOC has proposed exception for publicly
available information

17. USE OF SOCIAL NETWORKING
IN THE HIRING PROCESS
 Fair Credit Reporting Act
defines a “consumer credit report” as “any written,
oral, or other communication of any information
by a consumer reporting agency bearing on a
consumer’s creditworthiness, credit standing,
credit capacity, character, general reputation,
personal characteristics, or mode of living.”
 The FCRA Requires That Employers:
provide applicants with written notification that a
consumer credit report may be used; and
obtain the applicant’s written authorization before
requesting a report.
 Investigation of online activity may be
covered

18. SOCIAL MEDIA AT WORK
 Monitoring internet use at work
Employers have right to control and monitor
employee internet use in the workplace
No expectation of privacy
 There still are potential issues
Employer could be exposed to information
regarding protected status
Information gathered could be misused

19. SOCIAL MEDIA AT WORK
 Privacy Issues
Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986,
18 U.S.C. 2511 et seq.
 Permits monitoring of oral and electronic
communications as long as you can show
legitimate business purposes.
The Stored Communication Act, 18 U.S.C. 2701
et seq.
 Requires authorization from authorized user who
has personal access to the site
 This means you cannot access password protected
information without permission

20. SOCIAL MEDIA AT WORK
 Invasion of Privacy
Most states, including Michigan, recognize a right
to privacy relating to, among other things, a
person’s seclusion, solitude, or private affairs.
 The employee must show that:
there is an intrusion into a matter about which he
or she had a right of privacy
by a means or method that is objectionable to a
reasonable person.

21. SOCIAL MEDIA AT WORK
 “Public” postings are generally not
considered private
 But, what is public?
Not everything on the internet is “public”
Some courts have held that if an internet posting
has some access limit it may be considered
private.
 Examples:
 Surreptitiously “friending” an employee to gain
access to their site
 Using monitoring software to capture login
information

22. SOCIAL MEDIA AT WORK
 Social Networking and Union Activities
Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act
(NLRA) protects “the right to engage in other
concerted activities for the purpose of collective
bargaining or other mutual aid and protection.”
Section 8 of the NLRA makes it an unfair labor
practice for an employer “to interfere with,
restrain, or coerce employees in the exercise of
‘their Section 7 rights.’”

23. SOCIAL MEDIA AT WORK
The mere act of monitoring employees’
“concerted” activities may be enough to give rise
to a Section 7 charge
Employers need to be extremely careful in
viewing employees’ social networking sites,
blogs, internet postings, etc. if they are unionized
or as part of responding to union organizing
activities

24. SOCIAL MEDIA AT WORK
 Off-duty conduct
Generally, off-duty conduct is not protected
Legal exceptions:
 Protected activities or associations
 Public employees’ constitutional rights
 Some states protect off-duty conduct
Practical limits
 Nexus with the employee’s job duties
 Employee’s place in the organization

25. SOCIAL MEDIA AT WORK
 Unionized employees and off-duty conduct
labor arbitrators take a very dim view of discipline
for off-duty misconduct
In a union setting, the conduct must be very bad
and have a very strong nexus to the employee’s
job duties to support discipline or discharge

26. SOCIAL MEDIA AT WORK
 Other Issues
Company spokesman appearance
FTC regulation of endorsements and testimonial
in advertising
Supervisors “recommending” employees or
otherwise saying nice things you may regret later
Release of confidential information
 Not always intentional or even obvious
 Competitive intelligence

27. WHAT’S HAPPENING OUT
THERE?
 Misuses of social media by employees
Wasting time at work
Sexual harassment
Interfacing with employees, customers or clients
in an inappropriate manner
Posting trade secrets or information the company
would like to keep confidential

28. WHAT’S HAPPENING OUT
THERE?
 Uses of social media by employers
Increasing number of employers looking at the
online presence of applicants
 Not many claims or issues (yet)
Increasing adoption of social networking policies
Problem areas
 Supervisors being too friendly with subordinates
 Sexual harassment by supervisors and coworkers
Increasing view of Social Networking as a
valuable tool rather than just a curse

29. DEVELOPING A SOCIAL
NETWORKING POLICY
 What do you want to accomplish?
Ban all use at work
Allow some or all employees some personal use
at work
Incorporate social networking into company
marketing plans
 Even if you ban use at work, social
networking will inevitably come into the
workplace so you still need a policy

30. YOUR SOCIAL NETWORKING
POLICY
 Communicate to employees what use at work is
acceptable.
 Reminder that all the other company rules still apply.
 Guidelines on appropriate use of social networking
when interacting with fellow employees.
 Guidelines for interactions with third parties.
 Warning about harassment, discrimination and other
inappropriate behavior on social networking sites.
 Guidelines for use of social networking to advance
company business interests (if applicable).
 Warning regarding inadvertent or intentional
disclosure of confidential business information.

31. YOUR SOCIAL NETWORKING
POLICY
 No “one size fits all” policy
Every business is different
You need to identify what you need and want
 Be aware of the risks
 Don’t be so scared you miss out on benefits

32. RESOURCES
 Sample Social Media Policies:
http://www.compliancebuilding.com/about/publicat
ions/social-media-policies/
http://socialmediagovernance.com/policies.php
http://laurelpapworth.com/enterprise-list-of-40-
social-media-staff-guidelines/
 Twitter Terminology:
http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/learning

33. QUESTIONS?