Businesses need to implement social media policies or risk being left vulnerable to employment tribunal claims, according to Nigel Crebbin, employment partner at law firm, Berg.

A recent survey conducted by the firm discovered that nearly 75 percent of businesses in the region don’t have an effective social media policy in place. The use of social media raises many issues in the workplace, including discrimination,bullying, harassment, the leaking of confidential information and data, decreased productivity and damage to reputation. The ever-increasing presence of social media in daily life, both inside and outside of work, is leading to more and more tribunal cases where social media use is involved. Crebbin commented: “Many HR managers know that they need to put a social media policy in place, and some will already have had one drafted. But all of that effort is useless if the policy is just left sitting in a drawer. To best protect your business, you need not only to get a well drafted policy in place, but you also need to keep it regularly updated and ensure that your employees are properly trained with regard to it.”

Crebbin also urged businesses to pay attention to the small print when it comes to drafting a social media policy, as employment tribunal cases can be decided by slight points of detail. Crebbin commented: “As with many employment tribunal cases, those involving social media can be very unpredictable and can be won or lost on the smallest of points. “For example, if an employer dismisses an employee for comments he or she has made about their colleagues in their own time on a social media site, the judgment in the case could hinge on the wording of the employer’s social media policy. Did the policy make clear that it was not only comments posted in a work capacity or in work time that could lead to disciplinary action? Had the employer stated in the policy that comments posted outside of work but which had a bearing on work, could lead to disciplinary warnings or even to dismissal?”