SOCIAL NETWORKINGMANAGING THE WORK PLACE MINE FIELD

GAVIN BARNESDIRECTOR

REDCHIP LAWYERS PTY LTD

SOCIAL NETWORKING

INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY?

Surfing the internet for NON WORK purposes

during office hours increases productivity.

WILB – Work place internet leisure browsing allows

you to rest your mind by taking a short break =

higher TOTAL NET CONCENTRATION =

productivity

Blurs the Boundaries – Work Life v Personal Life

SOCIAL NETWORKING

SO WHAT’S THE ATTRACTION? (Australia Psychological Society)

18 – 30 97% use SNS 31 – 50 81% use SNS

Stay in Contact – Keep in Touch 54% more confident on line than in person Treated better online than in person

SOCIAL NETWORKING

HOW DOES IT WORK?

It’s how people connect, make friends, join groups and locate associates online.

Social Networking Sites: Facebook (over 500 million users) Twitter (over 175 million users) Linkedin (over 100 million users)

SOCIAL NETWORKING

SO WHAT LEGAL RISKS ARE WE TALKING ABOUT....Employee Risk

Third Party Risk

1. Misleading Deceptive Conduct 2. Defamation 3. Confidential Information 4. Privacy 5. Damage to Reputation 6. Cyber Bullying 7. Copyright Infringement 8. Discrimination 9. Unlawful Dismissal Claims

SOCIAL NETWORKING

BUSINESS RISKS

Misleading Conduct. ACCC v Allergy Pathway Ptd

Ltd - Businesses are responsible for material posted by 3rd parties posted on their Facebook Page.

You are responsible where you have CONTENT CONTROL.

SOCIAL NETWORKING

INTERNET DEFAMATIONDow Jones v Gutnick – publication of online

material occurs at the point of download of information by end-users.

Who can be sued – employers, employees and web hosts.

Fake Facebook Page - Applause Stores & Firsht -v- Grant Raphael (UK)

Horizon Group -v- Bonney (Twitter Comments)

Anonymous defamatory comments – Moir & Datamotion -v- Gladman (Forum Blogger)

SOCIAL NETWORKING

PRIVACY

Privacy Act 1988 Collection of a persons’

personal information by an employer from SNS

Individuals exempt but organisations may have to comply with the National Privacy Principles

No tort of breach of privacy in Australia

SOCIAL NETWORKING LOSS OR MISUSE OF CONFIDENTIAL

INFORMATION Customer lists can constitute

confidential information – NP Generations -v- Feneley

Hays Specialist Recruitment -v- Ions (UK) – LinkedIn

TEK Systems Case – communication with former clients via Linkedin

Leaking sensitive information – US State department officials tweeting about trip to Syria

SOCIAL NETWORKING

COPYRIGHT

© Creator of the work is the copyright owner.

© Facebook -v- Power Ventures – Facebook does not own copyright on user content.

© Employees may upload copyright material without permission.

© Employers vicariously liable – in the course of employment.

© ‘fair dealing’ – criticism, review, news reporting, parody and satire.

SOCIAL NETWORKING

REPUTATION DAMAGE

2009 Deloitte Survey – 74% of employees said it’s easy to damage a company’s reputation on social media.

Domino’s video scandal (US) – youtube video of unhygienic food preparation – 1,000,000 viewers.

Singapore National Newspaper Twitter accident – ‘omg.F*** you all. Seriously’ to more than 46,000 Twitter followers.

SOCIAL NETWORKING

PERSONAL RISKSGeneral Rule

You can’t be terminated for out of work conduct

DiscriminationFair Work Act 2009 – Adverse action claimBe careful who you say no to – accepting &

rejecting invitations

Employment – unfair dismissalEscape Hair Design -v- Sally-Anne Fitzgerald

Cyber bullying Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 (Qld)Australian Manufacturing Worker’s Union

survey

SOCIAL NETWORKING

BENEFITS

University of Melbourne Study

Workplace Internet Leisure Browsing (WILB)

Awesome Brand building – Viral marketing

The ‘Tipping Point’ – creating the epidemic – very low cost and highly leveraged

SOCIAL NETWORKING

MANAGING THE RISKS Social media policies

Commonwealth Bank – forced to amend their policy - ‘unreasonable’.

Blocking -v- NOT Blocking 73% of Australian workers access social

networking sites 48% did not officially allow access Employees choose employers that allows

access to social networking sites 250 million users accessing Facebook through

mobile devices

SOCIAL NETWORKING

MANAGING THE RISKSCONTINUED...

Monitoring online reputation

Google Alerts, Tweetbeep

Monitoring employee’s use

SOCIAL NETWORKING

Let’s look at how Coke handle it -10 Principles to guide you in your online representation

of your Company - Be Certified in the Social Media Certification Program.

Follow our Code of Business Conduct and all other Company policies.

Be mindful that you are representing the Company.

Fully disclose your affiliation with the Company.

Keep records.

When in doubt, do not post.

Give credit where credit is due and don’t violate others’ rights.

Be responsible to your work.

Remember that your local posts can have global significance.

Know that the Internet is permanent.

SOCIAL NETWORKING

PROTECTION MEASURES

Education is the Key – make sure employees understand the risks

Provide clear guidelines on safe practices on social networking sites

Consequences of violation of guidelines Crisis management Conduct regular training for employees Social media clauses in employment

contracts Disclaimers