Security Query

In the current scenario, there are many social networking sites where the employees post comments, like / dislike things, have their own blog etc., I would like you to construct a policy frame to protect the company from getting affected by any of their personal views or comments. need ur valuable suggestions on this..

Dear vins7287,

You could have given more information like nature of your industry, type of employees you have, what is your designation etc.

Social media is fait accompli of the day and we have to stay with it. We cannot prohibit employees from joining social media. Nevertheless, what is disclosed on the social media is important. Clause on disclosure of sensitive information is as such covered in Standing Orders Act. It can be extended to social media as well.

As far as expression of personal views is concerned, employers cannot have control on that. Employees may affiliate to some political party, however, while expressing their opinions they should ensure that they do not invite wrath from some section of society because of their criticism towards caste, creed, religion, nationality etc.

I recommend you developing your own policy and uploading it here. Some senior like me will correct it further.

You have written "I would like you to construct a policy frame to protect the company from getting affected by any of their personal views or comments". Please note that this is a public forum where you should refrain from using a language that demonstrates high-handedness of some MD over his/her juniors.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

This is why we repeatedly fail, as a country, to nurture our talent. Policies! And protection of 'Company's interests', however ridiculous it may sound. If an employee has to vent in a public forum, then there's a high probability that the firm isn't allowing them to do so internally.
Putting in policies & frameworks is to harness talent, not stifle it.
Give them a forum, track the issue and try to meet them midway.

Actually, it is possible to put in temrs in standing orders or appointment letters which require employee to notify any blogs they run and make adverse comments against the company, posting sensitive business data, etc. as amounting to misconduct. You can specify punishment, which can extend to termination.
Times of india did worse than that, which was news for some time. It was not struck down by the labour commissioner or the courts yet inspite of the upload amoung employees.

I would suggest you look within your organization to see what can be done to reduce negative feedback. Going the legal route would indicate that there is some fact which you are trying to cover up, which is not going to serve your organization in the long run.
Mr. Dinesh has given you some good advice. It will help you if you try to follow it.
All the best.
Regards,

Dear vins7287,
Social media promotes brand image of the company and it undercuts also. It depends on what employees say about their company in the social media. Suppose if your company gets some award, employees can promote link on the social media. On the contrary, the negative news harms the image of the company.
The another thing is publishing something out of innocence. Earlier there was post in this forum about publishing some research work on social media and how client objected it. Go through the following thread, it will be helpful to you to design the policy:
https://www.citehr.com/508166-advise...-resource.html
Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar