Employee handbook media relations

Explore Academics. Especially For Student Life. Explore Student Life. About Smith. More About Smith. Reviewing your employee handbook and talking to an employment lawyer to ensure your social media policy adequately protects your business interests and can withstand legal challenges is a worthwhile investment. Article courtesy of content partner BLR. Three things it should include. Bottom Line Reviewing your employee handbook and talking to an employment lawyer to ensure your social media policy adequately protects your business interests and can withstand legal challenges is a worthwhile investment.

Do not identify or reference company clients, customers, or vendors without express permission. Employees may write about their jobs in general but may not disclose any confidential or proprietary information. For examples of confidential information, please refer to the confidentiality policy. When in doubt, ask before publishing.

Because the company is publicly held, writing about projected growth, sales and profits, future products or services, marketing plans, or the stock price may violate Securities and Exchange Commission SEC rules or other applicable laws.

Employees are expected to comply with all applicable laws, including but not limited to, Federal Trade Commission FTC guidelines, copyright, trademark, and harassment laws. The Company may require that employees temporarily confine social media commentary to topics unrelated to the company or that employees temporarily suspend such activity to ensure compliance with regulations or other laws.

The Company may also require employees to delete references to it on a website or Web log and to stop identifying themselves as an employee of the company. Violations of this policy may result in discipline up to and including immediate termination of employment.