Social Media Policy
This is the official policy for social media use by MACRO and provides guidance for MACRO employees and external contractors on their professional and personal use of social media.
All employees are responsible for knowing and understanding the policy.
MACRO Social Media Policy
The intention of this policy is to establish a culture of openness, trust and integrity in our online activities.
The objectives of this policy are compatible with the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 and the Public Sector Standards Commissioner Guidelines for the use of social media in the Victorian public sector.
Scope
This policy applies to all employees and contractors of MACRO Recruitment.
This includes Permanent, Contract, Casual and Temporary staff
General responsibilities as a MACRO employee
Compliance
Depending on the circumstances, non-compliance with this policy may constitute a breach of employment or contractual obligations, misconduct (under MACRO’s Misconduct Policy), sexual harassment, discrimination, or some other contravention of the law.
Those who fail to comply with this policy may face disciplinary action and, in serious cases, termination of their employment or engagement.
Identifying inappropriate use
If you notice inappropriate or unlawful content online relating to MACRO or content that may otherwise have been published in breach of this policy, you should report the circumstances via email jobshop@macrorecruitment.com.au
Privacy breaches can also be reported to MACRO’s Privacy Unit on (03) 9573 1500
Definitions
Social media
Content created by people using highly accessible and scalable publishing technologies. Social media is distinct from traditional media such as newspapers, television, and film. Social media comprises relatively inexpensive and accessible tools that enable anyone (even private individuals) to publish or access information – other media generally require significant resources to publish information. (Wikipedia entry for social media)
Social Media may include (although is not limited to);
- social networking sites (e.g. Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Bebo, Yammer)
- video and photo sharing websites (e.g. Flickr, Instagram, YouTube)
- blogs, including corporate blogs and personal blogs
- blogs hosted by media outlets (e.g. comments or your say feature)
- micro-blogging (e.g.Twitter)
- wikis and online collaborations (e.g. Wikipedia)
- forums, discussion boards and groups (e.g. Google groups, Whirlpool)
- vod and podcasting
- online multiplayer gaming platforms (e.g. World of Warcraft, Second life)
- instant messaging (including SMS)
- geo-spatial tagging (Foursquare)
Statement of Policy
Professional use of social media
Becoming authorised to comment
- Before engaging in social media as a representative of MACRO you must become authorised to comment.
- You may not comment as a representative of MACRO unless you are authorised to do so.
- To become authorised to comment in an official capacity, you have gained approval from MACRO Recruitments managing Director.
Rules of engagement
Once authorised to comment as a MACRO representative, you must:
- disclose you are an employee or contractor of MACRO and use only your own identity, or an approved official account or avatar
- disclose and comment only on information classified as public domain information
- ensure comments are respectful of the community in which you are interacting online
- adhere to the Terms of Use of the relevant social media platform/website, as well as copyright, privacy, defamation, contempt of court, discrimination, harassment and other applicable laws, and MACRO’s Personal Information Policy
If you are authorised to comment as a MACRO representative, you must not:
- post or respond to material that is offensive, obscene, defamatory, threatening, harassing, bullying, discriminatory, hateful, racist, sexist, infringes copyright, constitutes a contempt of court, breaches a Court suppression order or is otherwise unlawful
- use or disclose any confidential or secure information
- make any comment or post any material that might otherwise cause damage to MACRO’s reputation or bring it into disrepute
Moderation of MACRO-produced social media
- The site owner must ensure a moderation policy is clear when inviting comments from the public on a MACRO website or social media platform.
- All MACRO website activity (including any social media) must be approved by MACRO’s Digital Communication team at jobshop@macrorecruitment.com.au.
Personal use of social media
Overview
MACRO recognises that you may wish to use social media in your personal life. This policy does not intend to discourage nor unduly limit your personal expression or online activities.
However, you should recognise the potential for damage to be caused (either directly or indirectly) to MACRO in certain circumstances via your personal use of social media when you can be identified as a MACRO employee. Accordingly, you should comply with this policy to ensure that the risk of such damage is minimised.
You are personally responsible for the content you publish in a personal capacity on any form of social media platform. When in doubt, you should seek guidance from MACRO on how to comply with the following obligations.
Where your comments or profile can identify you as a public servant, you must:
- only disclose and discuss publicly available information
- ensure that all content published is accurate and not misleading and complies with all relevant MACRO policies
- expressly state on all postings (identifying you as a MACRO employee) the stated views are your own and are not those of MACRO or their clients.
- be polite and respectful to all people you interact with
- adhere to the Terms of Use of the relevant social media platform/website, as well as copyright, privacy, defamation, contempt of court, discrimination, harassment and other applicable laws, and MACRO’s Personal Information Policy.
You must not:
- post material that is offensive, obscene, defamatory, threatening, harassing, bullying, discriminatory, hateful, racist, sexist, infringes copyright, constitutes a contempt of court, breaches a court suppression order or is otherwise unlawful
- imply that you are authorised to speak as a representative of MACRO or their Clients, nor give the impression that the views you express are those of MACRO or their Clients.
- use your MACRO email address or any MACRO logos or insignia
- use the identity or likeness of another employee, contractor or other member of MACRO and
- use or disclose any confidential information obtained in your capacity as an employee/contractor of MACRO
- imply you are authorised to speak on behalf of MACRO, or give the impression that any views you express are those of MACRO
- use your MACRO email address or any MACRO that may give the impression of official support or endorsement of your personal comment
- use or disclose any confidential information or personal information obtained in your capacity as an employee/contractor of MACRO
- post material that is, or might be construed as, threatening, harassing, bullying or discriminatory towards another employee or contractor of MACRO
- make any comment or post any material that might otherwise cause damage to MACRO’s reputation or bring it into disrepute.
Reasonable and unreasonable personal use
When accessing social media via MACRO’s internet and intranet systems, you must do so in accordance with MACRO’s Internet and Email Usage Policy, which requires you to use these resources ‘reasonably’, in a manner that does not interfere with your work, and is not inappropriate or excessively accessed.
Examples of reasonable use include:
- re-tweeting content from the MACRO’s account on your own Twitter account
- updating Facebook status and posting messages during a lunch break
- MACRO’s resources should not be used to access or post any material that is fraudulent, harassing, threatening, bullying, embarrassing, sexually explicit, profane, obscene, racist, sexist, intimidating, defamatory or otherwise inappropriate or unlawful
- you should not use MACRO’s internet and computer resources to provide comments to journalists, politicians and lobby groups other than in the course of their official duties
- it is not acceptable to spend hours using social media that is not related to your work.
Guidance for navigating legal issues
The following is offered as general guidance to assist you in complying with the obligations set out in this policy. When in doubt, seek further guidance from MACRO.
Privacy, confidentiality and information security
You should only use personal information obtained in the course of your employment/engagement with MACRO in a manner consistent with MACRO’s Privacy Policy.
You should not publish or report on conversations or information that is deemed confidential or classified or deals with matters that are internal in nature.
Copyright
You should respect copyright laws and fair use of copyrighted material and attribute work to the original author/source wherever possible.
Harassment and bullying
MACRO’s Anti Bullying and Workplace Conflict Policy applies online and in the physical workplace.
Workplace bullying and harassment includes any bullying or harassing comments employees make online, even on their own private social networks or out of office hours.
Abusive, harassing, threatening or defaming postings are in breach of MACRO’s Anti Bullying and Workplace Conflict Policy, and may result in disciplinary action being taken.
All employees are expected to treat their colleagues with respect and dignity and must ensure their behaviour does not constitute bullying and/or harassment.
Defamation
- You should refrain from publishing material that may cause injury to another person, organisation, association or company’s reputation, and should seek further guidance if publication of such material is thought to be necessary.
Offensive or obscene material
- Material may be offensive or obscene and may infringe relevant online classification laws if it pornographic, sexually suggestive, harassing, hateful, racist, sexist, abusive or discriminatory.
Contempt of Court
- You should exercise care if referring to pending court proceedings to avoid publishing material that may have a tendency to prejudice those proceedings, in particular, material that will not be part of the evidence in those proceedings.
- You should make enquiries as to any applicable court suppression orders prior to commenting on any court proceeding (whether past or pending).