No excuses! Fair Work Australia says social media policies a must
When a Fair Work Australia Commissioner ‘reprimands’ a multinational company failing to have a social media policy, business can be assured that there’s no excuse anymore for not having these policies in place!
The employee mistakenly believed his privacy settings blocked public access to his Facebook account. In fact, the evidence indicated these pages were freely accessed by one of his managers who was not a Facebook friend.
Linfox did not have a social media policy at the time of the termination or the hearing. Instead it relied upon the content of the postings and its induction training and handbook which contained an ‘Equal Opportunity and Diversity’ provision stating that Linfox employees should refrain from unlawful harassment and discrimination.
The Commissioner was unable to find a valid reason for the termination of employment on the evidence. The comments, whilst offensive and distasteful, simply did not in his view amount to serious misconduct.
“In the current electronic age, this [lack of policy] is not sufficient and many large companies have published detailed social media policies and taken pains to acquaint their employees with those policies”.
This decision is a clear indication that business must take social media seriously regardless of whether they use it themselves. As a minimum, businesses must develop and implement social media policies which educate staff on expectations, appropriate use and the ramifications that can flow should that use be inappropriate.
Read the full decision
Our experienced team at Barry.Nilsson. Lawyers can work with you to draft an effective social media policy or ensure your existing policy is up to date.
For further information please contact us
The decision
An application by a former Linfox truck driver for unfair dismissal was brought before Fair Work Australia on 19 December 2011. He was dismissed for allegedly posting “extremely” derogatory comments about his managers and co-workers to his Facebook pages.The employee mistakenly believed his privacy settings blocked public access to his Facebook account. In fact, the evidence indicated these pages were freely accessed by one of his managers who was not a Facebook friend.
Linfox did not have a social media policy at the time of the termination or the hearing. Instead it relied upon the content of the postings and its induction training and handbook which contained an ‘Equal Opportunity and Diversity’ provision stating that Linfox employees should refrain from unlawful harassment and discrimination.
The Commissioner was unable to find a valid reason for the termination of employment on the evidence. The comments, whilst offensive and distasteful, simply did not in his view amount to serious misconduct.
Social Media Policies – don’t be caught without one!
The lack of a social media policy made it difficult for Linfox to demonstrate its employees understood its expectations and the consequences that could flow from employee misuse. The Commissioner himself commented:“In the current electronic age, this [lack of policy] is not sufficient and many large companies have published detailed social media policies and taken pains to acquaint their employees with those policies”.
This decision is a clear indication that business must take social media seriously regardless of whether they use it themselves. As a minimum, businesses must develop and implement social media policies which educate staff on expectations, appropriate use and the ramifications that can flow should that use be inappropriate.
Read the full decision
Our experienced team at Barry.Nilsson. Lawyers can work with you to draft an effective social media policy or ensure your existing policy is up to date.
For further information please contact us