Employer Naivety and a Call to Revamp Workplace Social Media Policies
Social media use for employees 101:
Make your social media accounts private
Do not list your employer’s name on your profiles
Some employees go beyond the two basic directives above. They add a disclaimer to their bios stating that “my views are my own” on the assumption that this phrase protects them from consequences arising from their online discourse.
There are several reasons why a disclaimer is not a shield against discipline at work:
You can’t avoid a screengrab
Twitter detectives are ruthless, and they will find you and your employer
Termination costs are (usually) lower than the reputational costs of continuing to employ someone who has been “cancelled” following a bad viral post
It is naïve for an employee to think that there is a clear line between their personal and business personas. But it is similarly naïve for employers to (a) expect that their employees do not have views about the outside world and (b) mandate that they cannot share those views. Yet I continue to see social media policies that clumsily purport to muzzle employees in this way.
It’s 2020, and this is a call for employers to revamp their restrictive social media policies.
What does a revamp look like?
Back to basics: Strip the policy down to the basics. There are certain types of posts that no employer (or employee) should tolerate (e.g. discriminatory, defamatory, disrespectful). Setting out the baseline expectations of online discourse helps employees to adjust the way they communicate on social media (or knowingly accept the consequences of such communication). Once the basics are set out, an employer can build modern policy using the principles below.
What do you stand for?: To the extent that the employer insists on respectful discourse online, they should insist on similar standards in work-related interactions. Employers need to “talk the talk” in the office if they are insisting on certain standards for their employees outside of the office. For example, if they insist that postings cannot be racist, then they should insist on respectful, anti-racist behaviour at work. To insist on higher standards outside of work than at work undermines the impact of a strict social media policy.
Over-policing is not appropriate: An overreaching policy may lead to frustration and backlash from employees, so it is best to narrowly limit the policy to only those posts that may truly harm the employer. For example, a restaurant should not discipline a server who posts a meme about how terrible the Montréal Canadiens are[1], but can discipline an employee for sharing racist comments about the clientele. Employers should avoid trying to “police” unrelated social media posts and focus on discussions that materially affect the business, staff, and clients. No one can control what employees think or feel, but their employers can insist upon respectful discourse.
Business protection is reasonable, but a policy isn’t enough: In addition to racist, sexist, and disparaging language, posts that are critical of the business or its employees, suppliers, and clients need not be tolerated. Employees may hold unfavourable views of their employer, but it is reasonable for employers to expect that they will not share them publicly during their employment. But, if employees have valid complaints or concerns and there is no appropriate internal avenue to address them, employers should not be surprised if they take to social media. In that sense, the policy must be supported by other employee engagement and complaint mechanisms.
Employers cannot ignore that their employees have online presence, which may lead to conflict that affects the workplace. As a result, old, off-the-shelf social media policies will no longer suffice. Employers must bring open-minded and flexible approaches to social media use and reflect on how at-work practices can and should inform online expectations. A good, up-to-date social media policy does more than just mitigate risk: it can positively engage employees and reflect an employer’s values.
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[1] My hockey-related views are my own. 😊
