4 Responsibility for implementation of the Policy The xxx Senior Management Team has overall responsibility for the effective operation of this policy. The Director of Finance & Administration is responsible for monitoring and reviewing the operation of this policy and making recommendations for changes to minimise risks to xxx and this information will be fed back by the xxxx Senior Management team to the Executive Chair and Trustees. All staff are responsible for their own compliance with this policy and for ensuring that it is consistently applied. All staff should ensure that they take the time to read and understand it. xxxxx is a trading name of xxx, an independent charity no. xxxx, incorporated in England Under company no. xxxx. Registered office: xxxxxx Any breach of this policy should be reported directly their Line Manager/ Director of Finance and Administration. Questions regarding the content or application of this policy should be directed to their Line Manager/ Director of Finance & Administration.
5 Use of social media at work Employees are allowed to make reasonable and appropriate use of social media websites from the organisation's computers or devices, provided that this does not interfere with their duties. The organisation understands that employees may wish to use their own computers or devices, such as laptops and hand-held devices, to access social media websites while they are at work. Employees must limit their use of social media on their own equipment to their rest breaks such as their lunch break/times when they are between jobs/appointments, for example travelling/times when they are not on duty/times when they are not manning the telephones/times when they are not on the site where they are working. 5.1 Excessive use of social media at work Employees should not spend an excessive amount of time while at work using social media websites. They should ensure that use of social media does not interfere with their other duties. This is likely to have a detrimental effect on employees' productivity. 5.2 Monitoring use of social media during work time The organisation reserves the right to monitor employees' internet usage. The organisation considers that valid reasons for checking an employee's internet usage include suspicions that the employee has: been using social media websites when he/she should be working; or acted in a way that is in breach of the rules set out in this policy. The organisation reserves the right to retain information that it has gathered on employees' use of the internet for a period of one year. Access to particular social media websites may be withdrawn in any case of misuse. 6 Use of social media to promote xxx It is an important part of how the organisation communicates with its customers and clients, promotes its services, communicates with its audience and allows communication between staff. xxx is a trading name of xxxxx Ltd, an independent charity no. xxx, incorporated in England Under company no. xx. Registered office: xxx Employees may, with the permission of their immediate line manager and the xxx Marketing Officer, contribute to the organisation's social media activities, for example by writing for our blogs/ managing a Facebook account, running an official Twitter account for the organisation or part of the organisation. Employees must be aware at all times that, while contributing to the organisation's social media activities, they are representing the organisation. Staff who use social media as part of their job must adhere to the following rules. Employees should use the same safeguards as they would with any other form of communication about the organisation in the public sphere. These safeguards include: Making sure that the communication has a purpose and a benefit for the organisation; Obtaining permission from an immediate line manager and the xxx Marketing Officer before embarking on a public campaign using social media; and Asking a colleague to check the content before it is published. Any communications that employees make in a professional capacity through social media must not: Bring the organisation into disrepute, for example by: o criticising or arguing with customers, colleagues or external partners & agencies; o making defamatory comments about individuals or other organisations or groups; or o posting images that are inappropriate or links to inappropriate content; Breach confidentiality, for example by: o revealing trade secrets or information owned by the organisation; o giving away confidential information about an individual (such as a xxxx service user, colleague or customer contact) or organisation (such as a referring agency); or o discussing the organisation's internal workings or its future business plans that have not been communicated to the public); Breach copyright, for example by: o using someone else's images or written content without permission; o failing to give acknowledgement where permission has been given to reproduce something; or do anything that could be considered discriminatory against, or bullying or harassment of, any individual, for example by: o making offensive or derogatory comments relating to sex, gender reassignment, race (including nationality), disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief or age; o using social media to bully another individual (such as an employee of the organisation); or o posting images that are discriminatory or offensive or links to such content. xxx is a trading name of xxx Ltd, an independent charity no. xxx, incorporated in England Under company no. xxxx. Registered office: xxxxx Social media in your personal life The organisation recognises that many employees make use of social media in a personal capacity. While they are not acting on behalf of the organisation, employees must be aware that they can damage the organisation if they are recognised as being one of our employees. Employees are allowed to say that they work for the organisation, which recognises that it is natural for its staff sometimes to want to discuss their work on social media. However, the employee's online profile (for example, the name of a blog or a Twitter name) must not contain the organisation's name. If employees do discuss their work on social media (for example, giving opinions on their specialism or the sector in which the organisation operates), they must include on their profile a statement along the following lines: "The views I express here are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer." Any communications that employees make in a personal capacity through social media must not: Bring the organisation into disrepute, for example by: o criticising or arguing with customers, colleagues or external partners & agencies; o making defamatory comments about individuals or other organisations or groups; or o posting images that are inappropriate or links to inappropriate content; Breach confidentiality, for example by: o revealing trade secrets or information owned by the organisation; o giving away confidential information about an individual (such as a xxxx service user, colleague or customer contact) or organisation (such as a referring agency); or o discussing the organisation's internal workings or its future business plans that have not been communicated to the public); Breach copyright, for example by: o using someone else's images or written content without permission; o failing to give acknowledgement where permission has been given to reproduce something; or do anything that could be considered discriminatory against, or bullying or harassment of, any individual, for example by: o making offensive or derogatory comments relating to sex, gender reassignment, race (including nationality), disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief or age; o using social media to bully another individual (such as an employee of the organisation); or o posting images that are discriminatory or offensive or links to such content. xxx is a trading name of xxx Ltd, an independent charity no. xxxx, incorporated in England Under company no. xxxx. Registered office: Trexxxxxxxxx 8 Use of social media in the recruitment process Unless it is in relation to finding candidates (for example, if an individual has put his/her details on social media websites for the purpose of attracting prospective employers), the HR department and managers should conduct searches, either themselves or through a third party, on social media only when these are directly relevant to the applicant's skills or claims that he/she has made in the recruitment process. For instance: a prospective employee might claim that he/she has used social media in his/her previous job (for example, as a publicity tool); or a prospective employee's social media use may be directly relevant to a claim made in his/her application (for example, if he/she runs a blog based around a hobby mentioned in his/her CV or a skill in which he/she claims to be proficient). There should be no systematic or routine checking of prospective employees' online social media activities, as conducting these searches during the selection process might lead to a presumption that an applicant's protected characteristics (for example, sexual orientation or religious beliefs) played a part in a recruitment decision. This is in line with the organisation's equal opportunities policy.