‘Do’s and Don'ts of Social Media’ Jean-Pierre van Zyl

Social attitudes  2010 My Job Group survey  33 provided negative comments on workplace  Within that group 19% criticised boss or owner  13% criticised peers  Recent example from HMV “We're tweeting live from HR where we're all being fired! Exciting!!” #hmvXFactorFiring

Social Media – issues for employers  Social media screening for hiring decisions – potential for discrimination  Loss of productivity during working hours  Inappropriate conduct of employees:  Cyber-bullying/harassment/discrimination  Derogatory comments about employer  Confidential information  Business protection - ownership of data created in the course of employment

Misconduct and dismissal  Work-related misconduct – employer may legitimately take action  Misconduct outside of workplace :  Not obliged to disregard  Vicarious liability for employee actions  Impact on the employer’s reputation  Does the conduct contravene a relevant policy?

Employment Tribunal Decisions  Grant and Ross v Mitie Property Services UK Limited (2009 unreported case)  Two sisters dismissed for excessive use of social media at work, including Facebook  IT policy permitted use ‘outside core working hours’  Held to be unfair dismissals as not clear what ‘outside core working hours’ meant

Employment Tribunal Decisions  Taylor and Somerfield Stores (2007 unreported case):  Video of two employees hitting each other with plastic bags in a store- room uploaded to YouTube by employee  Employee dismissed  Only 8 hits on YouTube and could not be said to bring the company into disrepute  Dismissal was unfair

Employment Tribunal Decisions  Teggart v TeleTECH UK LIMITED (case no 704/11):  Offensive remark about employee’s promiscuity posted on Facebook  Employer’s decision that conduct amounted to harassment  Employee responsible dismissed  Dismissal held to be fair – employee was in breach of anti-harassment policy

Steps to Minimise Risk  Social Media Policy – why?  Define rules  Conduct outside of work  References to employers and colleagues  Communicate and train on the policy

‘Expect the Unexpected’ Robin Winskell

Three Guiding Principles  Do you pursue legal challenges?  Speed is king  Expect the unexpected