It is every employer's nightmare. A disgruntled employee posting online (often anonymously) unflattering comments about the employer and/or their business.
The result can range anywhere from mild embarrassment for the company to a viral PR disaster on a global scale! The following recent article is just a sample of the joys employers are facing online.
So how do you engage in some basic risk management in this area? The golden rule is to communicate, communicate, communicate! Here's how:
1. Communicate expectations implement a grievance procedure in your workplace that sets out clear guidelines as to how your employees can make a complaint if required. A solid social media policy setting out what your employees can and cannot do online both within and outside of work hours is also a must for most businesses these days. Such policies will need to be tailor-made to your business to an extent, but there are a few big ticket items that apply to every business (for example, a bullying and harassment complaint procedure).
2. Communicate the process ensure your policies and procedures are well publicised to your employees, readily accessible and consistently and indiscriminately applied. When a complaint is made, treat the process seriously and the employee respectfully. Make sure they get a fair hearing, even if it means engaging an independent workplace investigator. If an employee has confidence in the process, they will be less likely to take matters into their own hands…
3. Communicate consequences policies and procedures are not there just for decoration. So long as they are clear and reasonable and well promoted, your employees should be expected to follow them make sure they know that. Their failure to do so can and often should result in disciplinary action. A serious breach may even warrant dismissal. It's true this gets harder once they are an ex-employee. But the idea is that if you have the right steps in place to begin with and those steps have some teeth, your prospects of an 'anonymous' online mugging are going to be significantly reduced!
One final thought for businesses with less than ten employees, defamation proceedings may be an option if you have real concerns about the damage to your reputation or brand.
If you would like to know more about this topic, feel free to give us a call on 1300 205 506 or email your query to sp@sharrockpitman.com.au.
The information contained in this article is intended to be of a general nature only and should not be relied upon as legal advice. Any legal matters should be discussed specifically with one of our lawyers.
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For further information contact
Mitchell Zadow
Mitchell is the Managing Principal of our law practice.
He is an Accredited Specialist in Commercial Law (accredited by the Law Institute of Victoria). He also deals with areas of Employment Law, Wills & Estate Planning and Probate. For further information, contact Mitchell on his direct line (03) 8561 3318.
