TWITTER PATTER - EMPLOYEE USE OF COMPUTERS
Any employer who thinks that their computer equipment is not being used for “Non business related” purposes is being less than realistic. The list of internet access devices is endless. When someone wants to obtain information about something or someone, they “Google” it. How long will it be before the word “Google” will be included in one of the dictionaries. Employees order products on line and likely as not, they are accessing the many social networking sites which share information about the users. Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, Plaxo, YouTube. All of these sites are designed to exchange information – and yes – OPINIONS!
Facebook reports 350 million users and states that at least half of its users access the site at least once per day. Not only can employees access these sites from company owned computers, they can now access the sites from personal mobile devices which have camera’s and recording devices that are designed to instantly record and widely disseminate information. The “Droid” commercials viewed on the media presently are both impressive as well as scary. They are impressive in that the usefulness of the device as a communication tool is endless. More and more, professionals are coming to the conclusion that they don’t need an elaborate office to conduct their profession and to be completely accessible to existing and potential clients. Despite its capabilities, however, a “Droid” has no mind or conscience. It will not stop an infantile employee, who should know better, from taking inappropriate pictures of him or herself or a coworker and then sending them to 100 people, one of whom may have an ax to grind against his or her employer use it to create a “Public relations nightmare”. It will not stop an infantile employee, who should know better, from taking inappropriate pictures of a female co-worker and then sending them to other co-workers creating a completely hostile work environment. Neither does the machine know how to stop remarks that may be untrue and damaging to his or her employer’s reputation among employees or existing or future customers.
What is an employer to do? Unfortunately, there are no easy answers. An employer can certainly control access by company equipment to the internet or social networking sites mechanically or through programming and it can have strict rules concerning the use of its own equipment for any purposes other than those involved in its own business. This becomes a public relations issue between the employer and the employee. (I once worked for an employer, before the time that there were such things as cell phones or “Droids” Am I dating myself here or what? For those who are under thirty years old, there were such days and there are those of us who remember them.) The employer had a policy that the company phones could not be used for any purpose other than company business. If personal calls needed to be made, there were payphones in the lunch room and could only be used during breaks. The employees of course considered management as a “Bunch of Nazis” and referred to middle management as the “Gestapo”. The new television series where the boss or owner goes “Under cover” would have never never worked in this instance, because, cameras or no cameras, shortly after the boss’s identity would have been discovered, he or she would have disappeared never to be heard from again. In today’s world of two working parents and the “Latch key” youths, an employer has both internal and an external public relations issues with which to contend.
The other issue, is of course, the new personal communication devices that are arriving on the market. These are the devices with cameras, video cameras with which one can text, talk on the phone, access the internet, find restaurants, buy music and videos and that are no bigger than your palm. They even have keyboards.
One of the ways to reduce exposure to problems is to ban devices in the workplace. This, again, may create an internal public relations issue. There is also the legal issue involving the First Amendment to the Constitution – Freedom of speech and association. An “HR Professional” once wrote an article where she opined that employees gave up their First Amendment rights in the workplace. Aside from her being less than qualified to render such an opinion, she was dead wrong. Employees do not simply give up their constitutional rights when they walk through the doors of the workplace.
CRAFTMANSHIP AND DRAFTMANSHIP
Yes, it is possible to develop and enforce a policy that traverses the ever developing minefield of problems that that are being created by improving technology as well as communication methods. The basic principles are simple:
First, it should protect the employer’s confidential and proprietary information,
Second, it should protect the employer from libelous comments and illegal acts damaging the employer’s reputation among the employees or existing or potential customers,
Third, it should also take into consideration rights of the employee, including their rights to be protected from discrimination and their right to privacy.
All of this requires a thoughtful approach and knowledge of the mountain of legislation that has and is developing regarding this subject. It also requires a true understanding of the people that make up the “Conscience of he community’. Many of these cases wind up before juries, most of whom are employees. They are the ones who, armed with complicated jury instructions, after a few short weeks of testimony, sometimes hours or days, will make a decision that will affect you, your employees, your customers and the community in general for years to come.
Unfortunately, human resource personnel are usually not equipped to craft policy on regarding this complicated issue. While an experienced employment lawyer with trial experience may seem expensive now, the money you spend now will seem small if you fail to realize the complexity of the issue and become faced with a large verdict.
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