[Australia] Should HR sack an employee for their social media activity

In the wake of a social media misstep by a fast-food company on International Women’s Day 2021 and other infamous fails, Human Resources Director takes a closer look at the subject of employees' online activity and social media policies for employers.

In 2021 Burger King chose to show their support for women working in the food industry by tweeting out an update on Twitter, “Women belong in the kitchen”. It was a bad decision; the Twittersphere reacted with outrage to the post and brand and the fast-food giant subsequently withdrew the tweet and issued a public apology.

Such notorious examples send a shudder through C-suite executives by reinforcing the fear of reputational damage to an organisation should they get the messaging wrong or if their social media post is pounced on by the media or taken out of context.

Reputational risk

Social media specialist Tracy Sheen -  founder of The Digital Guide - told HR Director that reputation management should be a key part of your social media guidelines and policies and understood by everyone in the social media marketing team.

“Anytime you are confronted with a situation on your social media platforms that is not addressed in your policy, you’ve got an opportunity to update its provisions and ensure compliance across the team,” Ms Sheen said.

The social media policy should include what can and cannot be posted based on legislation and risk as well as a process to check whether content about to be posted is appropriate, Scott Stein - leadership and organisational strategist - added.

Legal ramifications of negative online activity

An employer’s social media policy should also cover out of hours conduct. Employers are entitled to act upon an employee’s personal social media conduct if it breaches their employment contract and is contrary to the interests and values of the organisation.

In February this year, for example, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) upheld the summary dismissal by the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) of an employee who posted highly offensive material on his personal Facebook account, despite him not being identified as an employee of the ACTU.

After last year's Australian high court ruling that social media companies can be liable for defamatory comments on their platforms, Mr Stein says it is expected that similar responsibilities will come into force for organisations and their employees.

In-house or contracted out?

The next question is who should be contributing to an organisation’s social media; is it better to use in-house employees or contract it out?

“I prefer social media to be handled inside the company. This allows for greater control over content creation and more genuine community engagement,” Ms Sheen said. Where that’s not possible due to limited in-house resources, external agencies can be engaged. “But if you do go down that path, review all scheduled content before the posts ‘go live’, and you always want to handle the community management – such as responding to posts etc – inside the company where possible,” says Sheen.

Who contributes to social media will often depend upon the strategy or position that someone holds within an organisation, Mr Stein added.

“For example, many C-suite executives or employee subject matter experts have a high profile so when they share information they are seen as 'representing' their organisation. This can provide a great platform to extend the brand's reach beyond the organisation’s social media accounts.”

It does, however, come with a note of caution. This April, the case against Elon Musk for his 2018 tweets about taking his company private on Twitter was concluded with a fine of $20million by government regulators who viewed his tweets as manipulation of the market given his position as a director of Tesla.

Celebrity influence

Some organisations have chosen to partner with a high profile subject matter expert outside the organisation to contribute to their social media messages or to hire someone to create content for them. Paying individual celebrities or influencers to post on their social media gains the company access to a broader audience provided that the brand and brand values align with the outsider delivering the message.

Source: Human Resources Director

(Link and quotes via original reporting)

In the wake of a social media misstep by a fast-food company on International Women’s Day 2021 and other infamous fails, Human Resources Director takes a closer look at the subject of employees' online activity and social media policies for employers.

In 2021 Burger King chose to show their support for women working in the food industry by tweeting out an update on Twitter, “Women belong in the kitchen”. It was a bad decision; the Twittersphere reacted with outrage to the post and brand and the fast-food giant subsequently withdrew the tweet and issued a public apology.

Such notorious examples send a shudder through C-suite executives by reinforcing the fear of reputational damage to an organisation should they get the messaging wrong or if their social media post is pounced on by the media or taken out of context.

Reputational risk

Social media specialist Tracy Sheen -  founder of The Digital Guide - told HR Director that reputation management should be a key part of your social media guidelines and policies and understood by everyone in the social media marketing team.

“Anytime you are confronted with a situation on your social media platforms that is not addressed in your policy, you’ve got an opportunity to update its provisions and ensure compliance across the team,” Ms Sheen said.

The social media policy should include what can and cannot be posted based on legislation and risk as well as a process to check whether content about to be posted is appropriate, Scott Stein - leadership and organisational strategist - added.

Legal ramifications of negative online activity

An employer’s social media policy should also cover out of hours conduct. Employers are entitled to act upon an employee’s personal social media conduct if it breaches their employment contract and is contrary to the interests and values of the organisation.

In February this year, for example, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) upheld the summary dismissal by the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) of an employee who posted highly offensive material on his personal Facebook account, despite him not being identified as an employee of the ACTU.

After last year's Australian high court ruling that social media companies can be liable for defamatory comments on their platforms, Mr Stein says it is expected that similar responsibilities will come into force for organisations and their employees.

In-house or contracted out?

The next question is who should be contributing to an organisation’s social media; is it better to use in-house employees or contract it out?

“I prefer social media to be handled inside the company. This allows for greater control over content creation and more genuine community engagement,” Ms Sheen said. Where that’s not possible due to limited in-house resources, external agencies can be engaged. “But if you do go down that path, review all scheduled content before the posts ‘go live’, and you always want to handle the community management – such as responding to posts etc – inside the company where possible,” says Sheen.

Who contributes to social media will often depend upon the strategy or position that someone holds within an organisation, Mr Stein added.

“For example, many C-suite executives or employee subject matter experts have a high profile so when they share information they are seen as 'representing' their organisation. This can provide a great platform to extend the brand's reach beyond the organisation’s social media accounts.”

It does, however, come with a note of caution. This April, the case against Elon Musk for his 2018 tweets about taking his company private on Twitter was concluded with a fine of $20million by government regulators who viewed his tweets as manipulation of the market given his position as a director of Tesla.

Celebrity influence

Some organisations have chosen to partner with a high profile subject matter expert outside the organisation to contribute to their social media messages or to hire someone to create content for them. Paying individual celebrities or influencers to post on their social media gains the company access to a broader audience provided that the brand and brand values align with the outsider delivering the message.

Source: Human Resources Director

(Link and quotes via original reporting)