The Jobs Free Forum

If you are crafting a social media policy from scratch, it doesn’t need to be long.

Some companies have no more than 10 clear, easy-to-understand bullet points in their social media policy.

You may want to include some of the following:

• Whether participating in social media at work or at home, and no matter what the “privacy level” setting, employees are expected to conduct themselves professionally. (Some companies physically ensure that employees have privacy settings set properly on their personal Facebook and Twitter accounts.)

• When posting about the workplace in any medium, employees must make clear that they are not speaking on behalf of the company, and they may not post a company logo, graphic, trademark, slogan or similar.

• Employees must not post material that is embarrassing or damaging to the company, may be confidential or proprietary, is critical of the company, or which may, in any way, expose the company to liability.

• Whether the employee is at work or home, all company policies on company loyalty, ethics and anti-harassment apply to social networking.

• The employer reserves the right to monitor employees’ use of social media, whether the employee participates from work or home.

• Any violations of this policy, whether intentional or unintentional, may lead to disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal.

State clearly who at your company is responsible for overseeing online activity, and let employees know they can and should go to that person if they are unsure about whether something is permissible to post.

Some employers advise employees to keep photos and other more personal content away from social media sites where work friends and professional contacts would see them. This type of a decision should be aligned with your company’s culture.

Once you’ve created your social use policy, don’t merely hand employees a revised copy of their employee handbook. Train your employees so they fully understand the new rules, as well as the risks, they take by not complying and the consequences. You may want to include interactive training or tests to ensure that employees demonstrate understanding of your new policies.

Post your policies where they can easily be seen. Many companies remind their employees of their social media policy from time to time (annually, quarterly, in pay envelopes or elsewhere). Best practice is to have employees to sign an acknowledgement that they have read and understand the material (as you would with any other important policy).

As technology changes, your social media policy may need to change, too. Be sure to communicate changes to your employees accordingly. You may want to consult with an experienced labor and employment attorney to discuss legal aspects of creating a social networking policy.