Employee use of social media: Free checklist

Employee use of social media checklist

This checklist helps your company establish a clear, structured approach to employee social media use. It ensures that employees understand their responsibilities and how their online activity can impact the organization. By following these steps, you’ll set clear expectations for acceptable behavior, safeguard confidential information, and minimize risks such as reputational damage, legal violations, or breaches of company policy.

By ensuring your company’s social media guidelines are in line with legal requirements and company values, you’ll foster a positive and secure online presence for both employees and the business.

How to use this employee use of social media checklist

• Follow the process: The checklist guides you through essential aspects of managing employee social media use, from setting clear policies to training employees and monitoring compliance. Use it to ensure each key area is addressed.
• Tailor to your company’s needs: Adjust the checklist to match your company’s specific social media policies and any industry-specific legal obligations. This ensures the guidelines are relevant and effective in your business environment.
• Engage relevant teams: Involve HR, legal, and management teams to help create, enforce, and review social media policies. This helps ensure all departments are aligned and aware of their roles in managing social media usage.
• Track progress and compliance: Use the checklist to monitor and document actions taken, ensuring accountability and providing a clear record of how social media use is managed across the organization.
• Review regularly: As social media platforms and related laws evolve, review and update your policies periodically to stay relevant and compliant with the latest developments.

Checklist

Create a clear social media policy

Establish a clear social media policy, either as a stand-alone document or part of your employee handbook, outlining your expectations for employees' use of social media. Clarify whether social media use on company systems is encouraged, discouraged, or merely tolerated. Inform employees that their social media activity using the company’s systems is not private, and that disciplinary action may apply for violations of company policies on social media, just as in any other area.

Reinforce employee responsibilities

Remind employees of their duty of loyalty to the company, and how inappropriate social media use could breach that duty. Implement guidelines that cover key responsibilities.

Use of the company’s IT resources. Proper handling of the company’s intellectual property (IP) and confidential information. Respect for third-party IP and confidentiality. Anti-discrimination, anti-harassment, and anti-retaliation policies. Restrictions against defamation and disparagement (while complying with the National Labor Relations Act). Disclosure of any employment connection when promoting the company’s products or services under the Federal Trade Commission Act.

Balance restrictions with practicality

Avoid unnecessary or overly strict rules on social media use that may reduce morale or encourage noncompliance. Ensure any restrictions serve a clear purpose in protecting the company’s assets, reputation, or employees without being intrusive.

Establish social media guidelines for positive engagement

Prohibit defamation via social media in employee confidentiality and proprietary rights agreements, ensuring compliance with Section 7 rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Update policies to encourage respectful communication on social media, reminding employees to avoid offensive content such as:

Ethnic slurs or sexist comments. Discriminatory or obscene language. Profanity or maliciously false statements.

Suggest employees clarify that their views on social media do not necessarily represent the employer’s views.

Include post-employment non-disparagement clauses

Consider including non-disparagement obligations for employees after termination, ensuring they do not disparage the employer, affiliates, employees, customers, or suppliers. Ensure post-employment clauses comply with the First Amendment, if the employer is a state actor, NLRA rights, whistleblower protections, or state or local laws.

Educate employees on confidential information

Clearly define what constitutes confidential and proprietary information in the social media context. Inform employees about the consequences of disclosing or misusing confidential information or intellectual property on social media.

Outline the risks of disclosure

Explain that misuse or disclosure of confidential information may result in:

Breaching the employee’s confidentiality agreement with the employer. Violating third-party confidentiality agreements, putting the employer in breach. Jeopardizing the employer’s intellectual property rights. Creating embarrassment or confusion among employees, clients, or business partners. Jeopardizing attorney-client privilege by sharing sensitive legal information. Violating securities laws by selectively disclosing material nonpublic information or issuing misleading information.

Amend policies to prevent misuse

Update confidentiality and proprietary rights agreements to address these risks and ensure social media usage is aligned with company policy. Regularly review and update these agreements to ensure compliance with legal standards and evolving business practices.

Incorporate social media anti-harassment policies

Explicitly reference social media behavior in your company's anti-harassment policies. Include social media scenarios in any training provided to prevent workplace harassment.

Align responses to harassment

Ensure that the company’s approach to addressing harassment through social media is consistent with how it handles harassment in other areas of the workplace. Train managers and HR teams to recognize and address harassment that occurs on social media platforms.

Review and update training materials

Include examples of social media harassment in your sexual harassment prevention training for both employees and supervisors. Regularly update anti-harassment training to reflect new social media challenges and evolving legal standards.

Train employees on appropriate social media use

Include social media guidelines in new employee orientation programs to ensure all employees understand appropriate behavior online. Provide ongoing social media training sessions to educate employees on company policies and the legal risks of misusing social media in a business context.

Train HR and management on monitoring social media compliance

Educate HR and managers on how to effectively monitor employee social media activity while respecting legal boundaries, such as privacy rights. Ensure HR and management understand the company’s policies on electronic monitoring, including:

What types of monitoring are permissible. Legal limits regarding employee privacy and how to avoid overstepping those boundaries.

Enforce compliance

Develop a system for monitoring and enforcing social media policies to ensure consistent application across the workforce. Train managers on how to address violations of social media policies, ensuring they act within legal parameters and company guidelines.

Benefits of an employee use of social media checklist

An employee use of social media checklist helps you manage potential risks while empowering employees to use social media responsibly. Here’s how it helps:

• Set clear expectations: By outlining acceptable social media behavior, you provide employees with clear guidance on what’s appropriate, reducing misunderstandings.
• Protect sensitive information: It helps ensure employees understand how to safeguard confidential company data and avoid sharing sensitive information online.
• Prevent legal issues: The checklist helps your company stay compliant with relevant laws, including anti-harassment policies and intellectual property protection, minimizing the risk of legal violations.
• Foster a positive company image: It encourages responsible and professional online conduct that reflects positively on your brand.
• Promote consistency: Having a structured approach to social media ensures all employees follow the same rules, promoting uniformity across your workforce.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Q: Why is an employee use of social media checklist important for my business?

A: A checklist provides a structured framework to manage how employees engage on social media. It helps protect your business from risks like data leaks, intellectual property violations, or reputational damage, while ensuring employees know what is and isn’t acceptable when using social platforms.

Q: How often should we review our social media policies?

A: Given how quickly digital platforms and regulations evolve, reviewing your social media policies at least once a year is essential. The checklist will ensure your policies stay current, relevant, and in line with industry standards.

Q: What should I do if an employee violates the social media policy?

A: Establish a clear process for addressing violations, including disciplinary actions, to ensure consistency. The checklist guides you in creating a fair and effective method for handling infractions and protecting your business interests.

Q: Can I monitor employees’ social media usage on company systems?

A: Yes, but it must be done within the bounds of privacy laws. This checklist helps you balance monitoring with respecting employee privacy, ensuring compliance with legal requirements.

Q: Should we encourage employees to use social media for work purposes?

A: It depends on your business objectives. If used strategically, employee engagement on social media can boost brand visibility and strengthen your online presence. The checklist helps set guidelines to encourage positive and professional social media behavior without risking your business’s reputation.

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This article contains general legal information and does not contain legal advice. Cobrief is not a law firm or a substitute for an attorney or law firm. The law is complex and changes often. For legal advice, please ask a lawyer.

Last updated   23 Mar 2025