Telecommunications giant Telstra has developed a six-page memo for its employees detailing how they should behave on Twitter and other social networking sites.
Telstra has ordered that staff must participate in “social media training programs” before they make any claims or comments about the company on these sites.
Employees will also need authorisation from their department head and the company’s public policy staff.
Telstra says the new policy is an attempt to “update your knowledge on emerging social trends and evolving best practice in social media”.
Once an employee becomes accredited, they are then only allowed to offer advice or support on comments made in the site and must disclose their status of employment.
They may not disclose confidential information such as statements or company financial data. Telstra has warned its employees that verbal warnings may occur when the policy is breached, “or in serious cases, termination of your employment or engagement with Telstra”.
“Telstra may recover from you any costs incurred as a result of a breach of this company policy. If you break the law you may also be personally liable,” the policy states.
The policy statement is in response to an incident regarding an employee who set up a Twitter account impersonating Communications Minister Stephen Conroy. Leslie Nassar responded to a statement from Telstra management who said they would take “disciplinary action” against him.
“I do get annoyed when I’m maligned… when I’m just flat-out lied about by a company that demands an employee’s absolute loyalty, but is utterly unwilling to reciprocate,” Nassar said.
Nick Abrahams, partner at law firm Deacons and head of its technology, media and telecommunications group, says all businesses that allow their employees to access social networking sites should have a policy in place.
“Particularly if you have a lot of younger workers, it can be hard to block these sites because social networking for under-25s is a genuine alternative to email now.
“In the early days, the internet was the same distraction. Now, nearly all organisations have access to the internet. While that has productivity implications, it has more positives than negatives, and that’s where social networking will evolve to.”
Abrahams says social networking policies should be clear about what use is and isn’t appropriate when the company’s name is being discussed.
“It should make it clear that people can only speak on behalf of the company if they have the authority of the company to do that. What is critical is to reinforce that whatever you do digitally can come back to haunt you – so exercise a degree of prudence,” he says.
“You can adjust profiles to make them private, but the problem is in a court setting scenario the other side can subpoena all that material so you lose any benefit of the privacy.”
Abrahams also says that companies should make clear policies on how long employees can spend on social networking during work hours, and should remind them not to reveal confidential information.
“It should also remind people of HR policies such as sexual harassment and bullying, that’s quite a significant area. You need to make clear the consequences of failure to comply, which could lead to termination of employment.”
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Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
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