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Social Media Policies Doug MacLeod Labour & Employment Lawyer MacLeod Law Firm

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Social Media Facts If Facebook were a country it would be the 3 rd largest country in the world (845 active monthly users and 483 million active daily users) 71% of companies use Facebook and 59% use twitter 43% of companies use blogs for marketing purposes Almost 50% of Canadians participate in social media in some form

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Reasons for Managing Social Media in the Workplace Promoting the organizations brand Protecting the organizations reputation Protecting confidential information Managing productivity Managing legal exposure

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Different Approaches to Managing Social Media in the Workplace Guidelines which serve an educative function A policy which is a term of employment

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Different Approaches to Introducing a Social Media Policy Stand alone policy Embedded in an existing policy such as an electronics communication policy or a computer use policy

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Should an Employee have Access to Social Media in the Workplace? Recruiting issues Nature of an employees job duties Extent to which the organization uses social media Productivity issues

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Can an Employee Use Personal or Company Property (like computers and smartphones) to Access Social Media Sites during Working Hours? Block access Monitor access Unlimited access

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What Restrictions Should be Imposed on an Employees Right to Comment on Social Media? Define Scope of policy: Does it apply to any communication that relates to the organization, its employees, directors, customers, suppliers and/or its competitors? Does it apply to anything on the organizations internal network?

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Should an Employee have a Duty to Inform the Employer if he/she Discovers any Negative Comments about the Organization through Social Media? Duty of fidelity: Protecting the organizations brand Designate a person within the organization to respond to social media comments

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Potential Legal Exposure Associated with Social Media Potential human rights violations Requiring an employee to provide access to his/her Facebook account Sexual harassment Potential workplace harassment complaints Potential defamation actions Material posted by employees on the employers social media platforms (I.e. The employers website, twitter accounts, Facebook page, LinkedIn page, and/or YouTube channel) Defamatory material transmitted from one employee to another employee on the employers internal network

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Can an Employer use Information Obtained from an Employees Personal Social Media Sites to Discipline the Employee? Legal decisions Discharge upheld: Personal caregiver created a blog and published resident information and photographs with the clients consent. Discharge upheld: Hospital employee photographed and posted on Facebook pictures of the area where a patient had jumped to his death Note: All Facebook firings have been upheld.

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Who Owns an Employees Business Social Media Accounts? PhoneDog v. Kravitz (A US case) Noah Kravitz was hired as a product reviewer and video blogger at PhoneDog and he was given use of a twitter account with the handle @PhoneDog_Noah, with which to disseminate information on behalf of the company, and to promote its services. Over time, @PhoneDog_Noah amassed 17,000 followers. After resigning his employment with PhoneDog, Kravitz began working for a competitor. He continued tweeting under the @PhoneDog_Noah handle. Athough he later changed the accounts name to @noahkravitz, the 17,000 followers continued to follow Mr. Kravitzs tweets. PhoneDog has sued Kravitz, asserting claims for misappropriation of trade secrets, interference with prospective employment advantage, and conversion, based on his use of the PhoneDog handle and his retention of the twitter accounts followers.

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If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me at your convenience: Email: doug@macleodlawfirm.ca Phone: 1-888-640-1728 www.macleodlawfirm.ca Thank You For Joining Us!