With more and more employees having social media profiles, it is becoming harder for employers to know what they legally can and can’t do. If they use these platforms themselves to monitor what employees are doing, they can find that there is a fine line between interest in their staff and falling foul of the law.
These days, most employers have a policy regarding internet use, while some will have specific rules relating to social media. In whatever format the rules may be, they should be written in such as way as to protect the employer against liability for its employees’ actions and will guide employees as to what they can and cannot say.
The policy should also promote compliance with laws such as bullying or harassment and should outline the employer’s disciplinary procedures, including examples of what might be considered a disciplinary matter and the likely penalties.
But what if an employer calls in sick and the boss sees that he or she is posting about a lovely day out on Facebook or Twitter? By taking them to task about this, the employer could be accused of infringing the Human Rights Act 1998, which provides that people have the right to private and family life.
If an employee feels that their social media use is being scrutinised too closely, they could cite the Data Protection Act 1988, which contains provisions on employers processing individual data and monitoring or retaining email communications.
Potentially more of a minefield is recruitment, as so many potential employees have LinkedIn accounts. While most of these contain purely professional facts, some people disclose more personal information on their profile.
If a candidate is rejected and suspects that it might be because of their race, sex or religion or any characteristic that is protected by the Equality Act 2010, if the employer has seen their profile, that could be used in a discrimination claim.