Less than a year ago, the Oxford English Dictionary, named ‘selfie’ as the winning Word of the Year 2013, with a 17,000 per cent increase in recorded usage over that year. Shorthand for ‘self-portrait photograph’, the word refers to self-portraits snapped with mobile devices and uploaded instantly to one’s social media network of choice.
In just over a decade, social media portals have taken the world by storm, transforming and simplifying the way in which we interact with each other. Such a sudden change in the way we communicate has had drastic effects on many aspects of our daily lives, with the workplace being no exception.
Nevertheless, although many might genuinely believe that their private and personal online behaviour has nothing to do with their working life, employers are increasingly at loggerheads over their employees’ online behaviour and its effects on productivity, time-management and company reputation.
Recruitment is also adapting, with HR professionals vetting candidates’ profiles in search of tell-tale signs of character traits. However, although these practices might appear harmless at face value, employers should be wary of relying too much on social media profiles, which contain personal and sensitive information, since these could lead to potentially discriminatory recruitment choices and possible data protection breaches.
The unrestricted use of social media networks at the workplace can also become a serious distraction for workers. Recent UK studies suggest that time wasted on social media at work may be costing the UK economy up to six per cent of its GDP, translated roughly into a staggering £14 billion annually.
With this in mind, employers can resort to the proportionate monitoring of employee internet use. However, this needs to be carried out diligently and in full compliance with the relevant data protection principles workplace, ensuring that a balance is struck between the employer’s right to protect their interests and the employee’s right to privacy.
Social media portals owe much of their popularity to their ability in facilitating communication, helping long-lost friends connect and facilitating friendships with colleagues and workmates. However, such easily accessible communication tools can also prove to be dangerous, breaking down the already-fading boundaries between working time and private life.
Therefore, it is easy to see how such social media sites can be used irresponsibly, creating problematic workplace scenarios. Through social media, sexual harassment has moved from the four walls of the physical office to the virtual workplace, taking the shape of unwanted photos or harassing messages, repeatedly sent friend requests, annoying Facebook pokes or ‘fraping’, which refers to altering personal information on a social media platform without the owner’s consent.
The unrestricted use of social media networks at the workplace can become a serious distraction
Another important aspect of social media in employment is termination of employment related to online misbehaviour, which might constitute a good and sufficient cause at law for an employer to terminate his employee’s contract.
Employees around the world are sacked for a variety of reasons, ranging from a teacher uploading pictures in disreputable places online to employees being dismissed for expressing political opinions. Nevertheless, employers should tread carefully, as although gross misbehaviour on social media may appear to be a justifiable excuse to fire an employee, such dismissal needs to be a proportionate measure, taken as a last resort.
Employers and HR people can be faced with a multitude of other issues, such as ownership rights over social media accounts, the use of official company profiles and accounts with company names.
A well-drafted, internal social media policy can mean the difference between an easily resolved internal dispute and a legal blunder with all its unsightly repercussions.
www.fenechlaw.com
Thomas Bugeja works with Fenech & Fenech Advocates.