edd blog online: 3 Reasons to Have an Internet, Social Media Policy

The legal quandary about employers, employees, and Facebook continues.

Maryland's legislature recently passed a bill prohibiting employers from requesting employees' user names and passwords to Facebook and other social networks. However, federal legislation banning such requests did not pass the House of Representatives. For now it seems that states are left to decide if employers can demand passwords.

And so this quandary remains to be solved for some employers.

Yet, there are some things that employers know for certain about employees and social media.

First, employees are using it. Second, they are most likely using it at work. And third, employers must have a written policy that tells employees what they can and cannot do.

Failure to have a written internet and social media policy puts your business at risk. Here is why:

1. Employees think their computers are private: I am amazed at the number of employees who believe that everything they do on their work computer is protected by privacy rights. This is simply not true. Yet few employees know this. Your written policy should reinforce that computers and email accounts belong to your business and will be monitored.

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By: Jennifer K. Halford, Esq.

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