Employers ‘fail to keep pace’ with social media

Nearly a third of employers have disciplined staff for inappropriate behaviour on social media sites, according to a report suggesting employers are “failing to keep up” with online developments.

The report ‘Knowing your tweet from your trend: keeping pace with social media in the workplace’ from law firm DLA Piper, found that most organisations recognise the value of a presence on sites like Facebook (86 per cent) LinkedIn (78 per cent) and Twitter (62 per cent).

In addition, 65 per cent of employers actively encourage staff to use it for work.

Employers said the main reasons they encourage workers to log onto these sites in office hours were to boost brand awareness (80 per cent), marketing (60 per cent), and recruitment (42 per cent), while employee engagement (37 per cent) and team working (28 per cent) were also cited.

But it said that employers are failing to protect themselves from risks posed by work-related social media use, as a 21 per cent had taken disciplinary action against employees for information posted on a social media site about co-workers, and 31 per cent had disciplined staff for comments posted about their organisation.

More than a third, 34 per cent, of employers said they are exposed to risk because confidential information may be posted on social media sites.

And most employers recognised the risk posed by former employees accessing confidential client lists via social media after they have left the company.

The majority restrict this behaviour by including clauses covering it in staff contracts; however, 28 per cent still do not do this.

Surprisingly, only a quarter of organisations have a dedicated social media policy, while less than half (43 per cent) had relevant rules included in HR or IT policies.

Kate Hodgkiss, partner in DLA Piper's Employment practice and the report’s author, said: "The study highlights that many employers are failing to protect themselves against the legal ramifications of social media use, as social networking practices outpace business policies. It highlights the growing need for a definitive social media policy which is regularly assessed and updated."

Earlier this year research showed a rise in companies blocking access to social media with nearly a fifth blocking the sites this year compared to less than 10 per cent in 2010.

Source People Management