Businesses’ biggest concern surrounding employees’ social media use is the posting or sharing of offensive and inappropriate content, according to a new survey*.

More than a third (36%) said this was their biggest worry around employees’ online activity, placing it above time spent on social media whilst at work (23%) and even the posting of disparaging posts about the company or their role (20%). 

Social media sites have long been criticised for not restricting the spread of harmful material and have come under further fire recently for fuelling the spread of misinformation and inciting violence. With very little regulation in the sector still, the burden of responsibility is on individual users to maintain appropriate conduct. 

If an employee does post controversial, inappropriate or offensive material, it can very quickly spread through the workplace. 

Toyah Marshall, head of team and employment law advisor at WorkNest said: “There are a number of laws that apply to the use of social media that employers should be particularly aware of. These are The Employment Rights Act 1996, The Equality Act 2010 and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act (1998). All of these reference how social media could be used unlawfully.

“When it comes to managing social media in the workplace, we recommend that employers take a three-pronged approach which is prevent, protect, promote.”

WorkNest’s survey revealed three in ten businesses (29.6%) have taken formal disciplinary action against an employee due to their social media use, whilst a further 15% said they haven’t but they have considered it. Unknowing how to proceed with formal action when an incident has occurred was the reason these employers hadn’t taken it further.

Toyah added: “Every business should have a social media policy with no exceptions. This is the only way you can be categorically clear with employees about what is expected of them when it comes to social media use and have clear boundaries of what the businesses deems acceptable. Without a policy in place, it’s a very grey area to manage.

“Our research found that a quarter of businesses (25%) still don’t have a policy in place. It’s positive that three-quarters (75%) of companies do have guidance, however 44% of these admitted that it’s not strictly enforced. This leaves only three in ten businesses with an enforced policy. In today’s society with the power and reach of social media platforms, this number needs to be much higher.” 

When asked how well they think employees understand their expectations regarding social media use, only one in ten (12%) of businesses could confidently say ‘very well’, with half (52%) believing expectations are ‘somewhat well known’ by workers. Around a third (32%) admitted that they don’t think expectations are very well understood.

*Survey by WorkNest

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