What can you do about employee blogs?
These days, anyone can write blog. But what happens if it’s an employee writing hostile posts about your company or a co-worker?
Chance are your companies has some employees who blog, since it’s easier and free and everyone likes to talk about themselves.
Most employee blogs are harmless (you know, with lots of posts about cats and boring hobbies). It’s when people start writing about work that things get sticky. There’s a danger of sensitive information getting out in the open, or offensive comments about co-workers or bosses being made publicly.
Legal concerns
There are some limits to what your policies can keep people from doing. For example, some states have laws against firing employees because of private activities. Also, the National Labor Relations Act gives workers the right to discuss things like salaries and working conditions – so an online post directed to co-workers might be protected by the law.
But there are limits you can place on online activity. Here are some things an employee blogging policy might include:
- No blogging at work. You can’t control everything employees do, but you can tell them how they’re allowed to use the company’s time and property.
- Harassment rules apply to online communication. If someone would be punished for saying something in person, they can be punished for saying it online, too.
- No leaking confidential information or trade secrets.
- People should not identify themselves as agents of the company or imply that they represent the company’s views.
Finally, a good deterrent to detrimental activity may be a reminder that, on the Internet, nothing is anonymous. Even if they don’t post under their own names, their identities can always be discovered through the Web site administrator.
