Cyberbullying in the Workplace

According to Industrial Relations tribunal statistics in Australia, workplaces are experiencing increasing claims of bullying and cyberbullying, and the problems of cyber-bullying are only expected to increase over time.

Many businesses and companies would typically have current workplace policies for internet and email usage, harassment, racism, and discrimination, however, few would have a specific Bullying and Cyber-bullying policy in place.

Employers have a duty of care under the Workplace Health and Safety Act ‘take all reasonably practicable steps’ to provide a working environment that is healthy, safe and without risks to the health of employees, contractors or other persons in or near the workplace. Australian courts have demonstrated that an employer’s common law duty of care to employees encompasses not just their physical well being but extends to their psychological mental and emotional well being as well.

Cyber-Bullying is a relatively recent workplace issue, and is on the increase with the increased prevalence of take-home laptops and smart phones, making cyber-bullying a problem outside of the physical work environment and traditional working hours.

Cyber bullying is often defined as a form of covert bullying that is carried out through the use of technology. Examples of what constitutes cyberbullying include :

• Offensive, malicious or intimidating emails or SMS communications
• Email threats, malicious or threatening comments
• Posting blogs and comments on social networking sites
• Spreading lies, malicious gossip or falsely discrediting others on blogs or social networking sites, or via email to other employees
• Sharing a person’s private data online
• Sharing embarrassing, offensive or manipulated images or videos of an individual
• Screen savers or desktop backgrounds featuring offensive content.
• On Line Harassment & Cyberstalking: repeatedly sending offensive messages and/or the posting of racist, nasty and hurtful comments using electronic means;
• Identity theft
• Exclusion, deliberately excluding another from an online group, mailing list or electronic conversation.

The nature of the internet is that it is not possible to guarantee that any content published or transmitted can be erased, removed or corrected. Cyberbullying therefore has the potential to be more aggressive and escalate considerably faster than traditional methods of bullying because of the immediacy of the medium. It is important that employers recognise that addressing cyberbullying is essential for creating a safe and productive working environment.

Cyberbullying can seriously affect morale, cause undue fear and stress, emotional exhaustion and serious health and psychological issues with employees. This can result in productivity drops, absenteeism rises, staff turnover increases, morale slumps and difficulty retaining staff in an unhealthy work environment. Cyber-bullying is a serious matter for businesses because its effects on the psychological health of victims can be far reaching, lasting and more damaging that from the traditional physical bully.

Employers who recognise the significance of cyberbullying and take it seriously will be in a much better position to avoid the negative consequences and potential legal implications of incidents. Being proactive and introducing or amending workplace policies that are specific to Cyberbullying is highly recommended.  It is recognised that the best way to prevent cyberbullying is through policy, education and training of all levels of employees.  Your policy should cover or include areas such as:

• acceptable use of technology,
• how to deal with bullying in the workplace,
• give concrete examples of what constitutes cyberbullying,
• remind staff that anything posted on the internet is out of their control and is potentially there forever
• encourage staff to draft sensitive emails and re-read them a few hours later before sending them.
• Develop a reporting and investigation process for bullying and cyber-bullying- any reports of bullying made by employees - regardless of how incidental they may appear initially - must be investigated
• Set out the consequences for engaging in bullying or cyber-bullying behaviour.

To help minimize your risk as an employer, or to find out more about Cyberbullying, contact Annette at End2End Business Solutions on (02) 8977 4002 for advice on establishing workplace policies for your business.

The importance of having a Social Media policy in your workplace

No matter if your business employs 2 people, or 200 people, or 2000 people, in this electronic age your business needs a social media policy in place. Even if you may already have policies in place that cover employee internet and email use, it is becoming more and more important that you set rules and guidelines for the way your employees use social media – both in the workplace and at home or away from work.

A recent Fair Work Australia decision resulted in an employee who had been dismissed for serious misconduct, being re-instated and compensated for loss of wages, despite having made a series of derogatory comments on Facebook about his managers, due to the determination that the employer did not have a policy on the use of social media by employees. The outcome of this case may have been different if the employer had adopted a clear social media policy, specifically prohibiting the publication of such comments within social media forums and stating what the consequences were for breach or non-compliance. It is evident from this case that employers should note FWA's finding that induction training and employee handbooks are no longer sufficient in workplaces.

In addition, if a social media policy within an Enterprise Agreement is found to be unfair or too restrictive to the employee, the agreement may not be allowed to be registered with FWA, and any related dismissals may be subject to appeal or be proven unenforceable.

The challenge for employers is therefore in striking a balance between the legitimate right of an employer to protect its business interests and reputation, and the employee's personal liberty. Employers should have a workplace social media policy that imposes fair limits and protects the interests of the employer and employee alike.

Following are several elements that should be covered when drafting and implementing a workplace social media policy:

1.       Your definition of social media.
You need to be very clear and make employees aware of exactly what your business defines as “social media”. To cover yourself, ensure you make it clear that the policy is not just limited to the sites and types of media that you list i.e. Facebook or Twitter, but also covers other sites such as blogs and other multi-media.

2.       A description of what is acceptable and what is not.
Your policy should specify to employees what behaviours are acceptable and what behaviours are not [give examples where possible]. You should remind employees that they should not say or do anything on social media that:

• could be viewed as derogatory towards, or disparaging of, colleagues, customers or clients;
• gives away or discusses your business’ confidential information;
• has the potential to bring your business into disrepute;
• undermines their effectiveness or productivity at work (eg. through excessive use).

Additionally, you should make it clear that bullying and harassment online will be treated the same as if it occurred offline and in person.

3.       A reminder of the dangers of social media.
In your policy you should provide a reminder of what employees risk when they post something on social media, due to the nature of the internet, e.g. the post can be seen by many people, it is difficult to erase and leaves a trail even when removed.

4.       The consequences of breaching the policy.
Your policy must remind employees of that the consequences of breaching the terms of the policy may involve disciplinary action or termination of employment. It is also recommended that the policy makes it clear to your employees that the same policy applies if they bully or harass an employee either inside or outside of work on a social media site.

Finally, you also need to ensure your policy is available to all your employees, and you should train and remind your employees about the policy on a regular basis to ensure it is effective and enforceable.

If you have a current workplace social media policy in place, we recommend that it is timely to consider reviewing your current policies and procedures to ensure they are drafted so to protect the interests of the employer and employee alike. Professionally drafted social media policies are critical to your business.