New study on social media in the workplace

A new international study suggests that colleagues posting embarrassing photos of one another on social media sites is contributing to a widespread breakdown of workplace privacy.

Co-workers using social media sites to make unwanted romantic advances is also said to be blurring the distinction between work and home life.

The findings are based on surveys with 4000 social media users in 10 countries, and were published by internet security firm AVG Technologies.

"This study highlights the need for a combination of greater education around social media, alongside increased attention and care by both employees and employers to their social media etiquette at work," the company said.

Key findings among Australian respondents include:
• 6/10 said social media sites have eroded their expectation of privacy at work
• 1/10 said they have had embarrassing photos or videos taken at a work event and uploaded on to social media sites
• 9/10 believed sending unpleasant or defamatory remarks to or about a colleague using digital communications constituted cyber-bullying
• Employees raised concerns about managers discovering embarrassing or incriminating information on social media sites

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Social Media, Email and Online Etiquette
Workplace Bullying and Harassment

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Social Media, Email and Online Etiquette – E-Learning
Maintaining a Harassment Free Office: Managers – E-Learning
Maintaining a Harassment Free Office: Employees – E-Learning

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Source: The Australian and Smart Company

Fair Work Australia dismissed a company's appeal over a worker's Facebook comments

Fair Work Australia (FWA) dismissed an appeal by a transport company, which tried to sack an employee for making derogatory comments about 2 of his managers on Facebook.

FWA found:
• Comments about the death of a Muslim terrorist were "distasteful", but within his right to free speech and could not be considered a personal attack on one of his managers, who is a practising Muslim.
• A comment referring to a manager as a "bacon hater" was in "poor taste".
• Sexual comments about a female manager were "outrageous", but most were made by his Facebook friends in response to his comment.
• The company did not have a social media policy and its induction training materials were inadequate grounds to sack the employee.
• The employee’s limited understanding of Facebook was relevant, but such claims of ignorance are likely to be viewed less favourably in the future as more people join social media websites.

The company launched an appeal but FWA upheld the original ruling.

The industrial umpire warned "Facebook conversations leave a permanent written record of statements and comments made by participants, which can be read at any time into the future until they are taken down by the page owner," the appeal panel said.

"Employees should therefore exercise considerable care in using social networking sites in making comments or conducting conversations about their managers and fellow employees."

Vocam Training Video
Social Media, Email and Online Etiquette
Workplace Bullying and Harassment
Maintaining a Harassment Free Office: Employees
Maintaining a Harassment Free Office: Managers

E-learning Courses
Social Media, Email and Online Etiquette – E-learning
Workplace Bullying and Harassment – E-learning
Maintaining a Harassment Free Office: Employees – E-learning
Maintaining a Harassment Free Office: Managers – E-learning
Available as part of TrainNOW. For more information, contact us or visit our website.

Source: http://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/linfox-loses-appeal-over-truckies-061015018.html

Companies should establish a social media policy, according to new survey results

Businesses that haven't already set up policies about how their staff use social media in the workplace should do so quickly or risk becoming irrelevant to job seekers, according to the Hays Tomorrow’s Workforce report.

The results suggest while businesses don't need to spend a disproportionate amount of time creating a social media policy, it will still affect how potential employees see the company and affect your reputation.

• 19.7% of job seekers would consider turning down a job if they didn't have "reasonable access" to social media sites during work hours.
• 44.3% of employers believe that allowing employees to have access to social media will improve retention levels.
• 25.3% of respondents didn't have a clear idea of how to represent their companies on social media. Businesses have found themselves in hot water over situations where employees have said inappropriate things on Facebook or Twitter, reflecting badly on the company.

Vocam Training Video
Social Media, Email and Online Etiquette

E-learning Course
Social Media, Email and Online Etiquette – E-learning

Available as part of TrainNOW. For more information, contact us or visit our website.

For more information on this HR news, visit Smart Company’s article. Source: http://www.smartcompany.com.au/managing-people/051902-workplace-policies-on-social-media-essential-as-survey-reveals-one-fifth-of-job-seekers-want-full-access.html