What to do when an employee goes rogue on social

The worst has happened, one of your employees has gone rogue and made a comment on social media that is offensive or derogatory about your business.

While this can be a delicate process, your business wll be well prepared to handle the fall out if it has followed my advice in Preventing employees causing damage on social media.

My key advice for approaching this situation is

• Consider the overall impact of the post on your business, or others. Is it bullying, defamatory or discrimination? Is it detrimental to your brand? Could you be responsible for defamation for their comment? You should seek legal advice about these issues and whether the employee’s actions amount to serious misconduct entitling you to dismiss the employee immediately.
• Bring it back to your social media policy and contract of employment. Your policy should address the situation and indicate the process to go through. A well written policy by one of our business lawyers should ensure the risk of workplace bullying or unfair dismissal is mitigated.
• Talk to your employee urgently. A good policy will give the employee a chance to provide their side of the story before any disciplinary action is taken.
• If the post leads to dismissal, whether immediate or after a period of time, have a termination agreement - if employees leave, an agreement that keeps the situation confidential or at least provides for "non-disparagement" is absolutely crucial.

OFRM's business lawyers can assist you with setting up policies and processes to manage the risk of the legalities of your social media accounts. Contact Lachlan Edwards on 0427 916 442 or Siobhan Liston on 03 5445 1067.