Companies fear damage to their image through online activities by employees

Many employers struggle with the use of social networks and do not know how to deal with it. More and more people are active on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter or MySpace – at work as well as privately. Research by the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics shows that many companies are unsure how to track employee networking.

Over 50 percent say they don’t take any particular line in dealing with employees’ social networking use outside of work. As a rule, there are no restrictions or prohibitions on the part of the company to use social networks outside of work. At the same time, many employers worry about employees’ social networking activities because they fear that they might post unfavorable photos or post private details that would damage the company’s reputation.

In individual cases, this fact has already resulted in employees being prohibited from using Facebook and Twitter, as was the case with the US Marines. According to the research, however, most companies are very unsure whether they should take such measures or how they should implement them.

34 percent of the companies surveyed said they had at least general guidelines regarding online activities (including social networks) both inside and outside the job. Only ten percent have special regulations regarding social networks. At the same time, 32 percent of the employees surveyed said that their company would only take action when there was a special occasion. This contrasts with 24 percent of the companies who say that disciplinary measures have already been taken due to inappropriate behavior of an employee in a social network. pte

www.corporatecompliance.org