LRD guides and handbook May 2016

Social media at work - a practical guide for trade union reps

Introduction

Introduction [pages 3-4] (525 words)

Social media appears to be an unstoppable force. In the last decade people’s usage of social networking sites has exploded and for many they have ...
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Chapter 1

1. The challenge for union reps [ch 1: pages 5-6] (708 words)

Reps will be engaging with social media for a variety of reasons. Key among them are: ...
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Chapter 2

2. Members’ use of social media [ch 2: pages 7-8] (805 words)

More and more people are putting their private lives in the public domain and all this personal information can be read by anyone. ...
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Guidance points from unions [ch 2: pages 8-9] (346 words)

Keeping professional boundaries [ch 2: pages 9-10] (337 words)

Social media during disputes conciliation [ch 2: page 10] (183 words)

Freedom of speech [ch 2: pages 11] (164 words)

Expressing political opinions [ch 2: pages 11] (189 words)

Chapter 3

3. Union reps’ use of social media [ch 3: page 12] (65 words)

As trade union activists and branches make more use of social media, members are being encouraged to connect online. So long as these communications ...
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Sensitive union communications [ch 3: page 12] (191 words)

Keeping the right tone in posts [ch 3: page 13] (315 words)

Chapter 4

4. Employers’ use of social media [ch 4: page 14] (385 words)

Employers conducting a staff engagement exercise used to mean paper surveys. Now it is intranets, online surveys and interactive discussion groups. ...
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Monitoring employees [ch 4: page 15] (434 words)

Investigating job applicants [ch 4: pages 15-16] (437 words)

Chapter 5

5. Cyberbullying [ch 5: pages 17-18] (811 words)

Online technology means that bullying can now take place anywhere. An individual or group can bully, threaten or embarrass their victim via the ...
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How the tribunals have treated cyberbullying [ch 5: pages 19-20] (875 words)

Chapter 6

6. Employer policies on social media [ch 6: page 21] (257 words)

Not all employers have social media policies but most have a policy on general internet use and this often covers the use of social networking sites. ...
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Core content [ch 6: pages 21-23] (891 words)

“Reasonable use” of the internet [ch 6: pages 23] (340 words)

Disciplinary procedures [ch 6: pages 23] (108 words)

Communicating the policy [ch 6: page 24] (107 words)

What the tribunals have said about employers’ policies [ch 6: pages 25-27] (1,221 words)

Chapter 7

7. The legal dimension [ch 7: page 29] (51 words)

The rapid growth in social media use has expanded the scope for members to find themselves in trouble at work. This Chapter looks at the approach ...
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Bringing unfair dismissal claims [ch 7: page 29] (320 words)

How the tribunals have dealt with unfair dismissal cases [ch 7: pages 30-31] (760 words)

Reputational risk [ch 7: pages 31-33] (586 words)

The internet has no sense of humour [ch 7: pages 33-34] (607 words)

Privacy settings/hacking [ch 7: pages 34-35] (387 words)

The internet has a long memory [ch 7: page 35] (368 words)

The need for a proper investigation [ch 7: page 36] (208 words)

Mitigation arguments [ch 7: page 36] (143 words)

Summary – key points from tribunal cases [ch 7: page 37] (397 words)

Other dismissals involving use of IT facilities [ch 7: page 38] (398 words)

Employer monitoring of email and internet use [ch 7: pages 38-41] (1,039 words)

Chapter 8

8. Use of social media for union campaigns (1,201 words)

In recent years unions have been successfully harnessing the power of social networking to reach out to their memberships and the wider public. The ...
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Further information

8. Further information (144 words)

Acas Brandon House, 108 Borough High Street, London SE1 1 LW. Tel: 08457 474747, Web: www.acas.org.uk ...
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