Email, Internet, and Social Media Use Policy
Purpose
IT and communication plays an essential role in the conduct of our business. The IT infrastructure including e-mail and internet access have therefore significantly improved business operations and efficiencies.
This policy applies to all members of the Company who use our or our clients’ communications facilities, whether Directors/Consultants, full or part-time employees, contract staff or temporary staff. The parameters and restrictions are outlined below and you are required to read them carefully. The purpose of this policy is to define acceptable email and internet use within working time.
General Principles
You must use our information technology and communications facilities sensibly, professionally, lawfully, consistently with your duties and in accordance with this policy and other Company rules and procedures.
At all times employees must behave with honesty and integrity, and respect the rights and privacy of others in relation to electronic communication and information.
Every employee will be given access to the intranet and/or internet as appropriate to their job needs. For those who do not have daily PC access occasional access will be arranged, as necessary.
All PC/network access will be through passwords, and no individual is permitted onto the system using another employee’s password. Employees are not permitted to share their password with anyone inside or outside the company. Individuals will be allowed to set their own passwords, and must change them on an annual basis, or as requested by the system set-up requirements.
All information relating to our clients/customers and our business operations is confidential. You must treat our paper-based and electronic information with utmost care.
Many aspects of communication are protected by intellectual property rights which can be infringed in a number of ways. Downloading, copying, possessing and distributing material from the internet may be an infringement of copyright or of other intellectual property rights.
Particular care must be taken when using e-mail as a means of communication because all expressions of fact, intention and opinion in an e-mail may bind you and/or the Company and can be produced in court in the same way as other kinds of written statements.
Email & Internet use for personal purposes
Company email addresses and internet access in the office is primarily provided for business use and the use of Company email addresses and internet for personal reasons should be limited and kept to a minimum during working hours.
Upmost care should be taken in assessing email content prior to opening, particularly in relation to suspicious attachments, links and file formats.
Unauthorised use of email and internet
The Company will not tolerate use of email and internet for unofficial or inappropriate purposes, including but not limited to:
any messages that could constitute bullying, harassment or other detriment
on-line gambling & excessive trading
accessing or transmitting pornography
accessing other offensive, obscene or otherwise unacceptable material
transmitting copyright information and/or any software available to the user
posting confidential information about other employees, the Company or its customers or suppliers
use of a personal VPN
mining crypto currencies
hacking
excess gaming
Downloading of material
In order to prevent the introduction of virus contamination into the software system the following must be observed:
all software must be virus checked by pre-installed Company anti-virus software before being used
software including public domain software, magazine cover disks/CDs or Internet/World Wide Web downloads must be used with caution and anti-virus software recommendations must be adhered to
all employees are individually responsible for maintaining their anti-virus software with the latest updates version
Employees are individually responsible for crediting and using downloaded design and research assets responsibly, adhering to copyright laws.
The Company does not permit the use of illegal software or the illegal downloading of any software or other digital media files. This includes any files that do not adhere to copyright law.
On-line blogs & forums
When contributing to online forums, blogs or other digital publications, either on behalf of the business or personally using Company equipment, the following rules apply:
personal blogs should contain a disclaimer that the views expressed on it are personal views of the author only
you should not at any time make comments in a blog which bring the Company into disrepute
you should not reveal confidential Company information, or information on clients/customers/suppliers etc
you should not share any Company derived assets unless agreed by a Company Director
you should not at any time make comments in a blog or online forum which amount to bullying, harassment or any other detriment towards other employees/ contractors/suppliers/clients/customers or any other individual working in connection with us
Storage of personal and other digital data
Employees should ensure they regularly audit their emails, computer files and shared folders in order to archive or delete anything that contains information that is no longer required in order for the Company to comply with its obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998.
Company’s website
Unless you are responsible for the upkeep of the Company’s website as part of your role, you are not permitted to add anything to the website without express permission of a Company Director.
Monitoring
The Company is ultimately responsible for all business communications but subject to that will, so far as possible and appropriate, respect your privacy and autonomy. The Company may monitor your business communications for business reasons.
Social media policy
The Company operates a social media policy to govern the use of this media within the Company. The policy covers profile pages and other resources maintained by employees on networking sites including, but not limited to, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn, as well as blogs, forums, message boards, review sites and online polls.
Social media can be a distracting technology which causes a negative effect on the productivity of employees working for the Company, however, it can also be an engaging platform that enables the Company to build new relationships with new and existing customers.
This policy sets out how employees must behave when using the Company’s social media platforms and governs how employees should refer to and promote the Company on their own personal accounts.
Policy aims
The Company’s social media use policy is applied in conjunction with the Company’s internet policy and publicity policies. This policy applies to all employees, contractors and volunteers who use social media either for personal or professional reasons.
It is important that employees using social media in the workplace use it in a way which does not adversely affect the Company’s reputation.
Social media can involve communication between job applicants and employees and is an avenue for the Company to promote and control their reputation. Social media may blur the boundaries between what is home and work. Access is often public, even amongst a limited group of connected accounts, and comments are often permanent.
Employees should be honest and respectful when using social media. Everything posted on social media may be tracked back to the source so employees must ensure content posted on social media accounts, both in a work and personal capacity, fits with the Company ethos, GDPR Regulations, CSR and marketing brands.
Terms of use
When using social media, either in a personal or work capacity, during or outside working hours, posts on social media must not:
compromise the Company, disclose confidential data or disclose sensitive data
must not damage the Company’s reputation or brand
must not breach copyright or data protection
contain libel or defamatory content
must not engage in bullying or harassment
be of illegal, sexual or offensive content
interfere with your work commitments
use the name of the Company to promote products or political opinions.
Employees should ensure they consider the Company’s other policies on marketing, promotion, sales and branding.
Social media content attributable to you which breaches the terms of this policy, or the other related policies, may result in an investigation and disciplinary action under the Company’s disciplinary policy.
Social media and recruitment
Recruitment processes are increasingly utilising social media as a method of engaging job-seekers. Due to the increasing amount of content posted online, viewing candidate’s social media profiles is a quick and effective way of checking details contained in a CV or getting an idea of the personality of the candidate.
The Company does not permit those involved in the recruitment process to review or access candidate’s social media profiles.
Business contacts
Details of business contacts obtained during the course of an employee’s employment are considered confidential information, remain the property of the Company and are protected under GDPR regulations. Business contact details includes the contacts records in computer software installed on an employee’s computer and mobile phone as well as maintained in third party websites including social media.
Business contacts may not be added to personal social media accounts during the course of your employment. If any are, these must be removed upon termination of an employee’s employment.
Business contacts may be added to corporate social media accounts. A separate record of business contacts on social media should be maintained within the Company, updated as and when the contacts are added.
Policy enforcement
Using social media to refer to or notify business or personal contacts of an employee’s new employer will be seen as an attempt to solicit customers or poach staff and may result in civil proceedings being brought against the individual.
Using social media in a way which breaches this policy will result in such content being removed from corporate accounts and the employee’s authorisation to use corporate social media accounts on behalf of the Company being suspended and removed. Such content may be damaging to the Company or employees and may lead to disciplinary action under the Company’s disciplinary policy, which may be serious or gross misconduct.
The Company reserves the right to check the social media accounts of employees in accordance with the internet and monitoring policy.
Enforcement
Failure to comply with this policy may result in disciplinary action being taken against you. If there is anything in this policy that you do not understand, please discuss it with a Company Director.
Last Updated: January 2020
Last updated