Does your company have a social media policy in place yet? If not you may want to consider creating one sooner rather than later. More and more employees are losing their jobs, getting reprimanded for their public social media posts. So where do you start?

A great article from Entrepreneur online discusses “Writing  Social Media Guidelines” makes some excellent suggestions and begins with a legal point of view.  Some highlights include:

• Freedom of speech: Be aware of the National Labor Relations Act’s rules protecting employees’ freedom-of-speech rights. The act protects the rights of all employees (not just those in unions) to enjoy freedom of speech in relation to collective bargaining or other discussions of mutual aid.

• Do your research according to your state.

• Check out how other companies in your industry handles social media among employees. Often that is a good place to start.

• Council your employees to use common sense. While it is a great thing for an employee to show loyalty to their company by posting a picture from a trade show, office party or staff meeting caution needs to be exercised. Many companies monitor their own social media and also that of their competitors. An innocent post could give your competition some information you would rather they not know.

Does your company have a social media policy in place? Do you need one? While most policies are more of a guideline it is important for ALL businesses to have something in writing for their employees to reference. Join the discussion by leaving your comments and learn from others!