The Commonwealth Bank has been criticised over the weekend after it was revealed that its social media policy threatens employees with disciplinary action if they fail to report criticism made by others via social media outlets.
The policy requests workers inform the bank of any negative comment, including on their own personal Facebook accounts. The policy, which has seen the Finance Sector Union (FSU) demand its suspension, states that ‘employees cannot comment on, post or store any information about bank related matters, or speak negatively about the company.’
Furthermore, it goes onto say that, employees could be held accountable for posts their friends make about the company. It requests that employees aware of any such comments should contact the company’s media and communications team, and provide them with any assistance if the company wants to get that material deleted or amended.
According to a report by smartcompany.com.au, the Commonwealth Bank considers social media to be a very important part of its communication and customer engagement processes.
Standard social media policies, similar to a media policy will always include standard requests i.e. employees should not speak officially for the company, but has the CBA taken this one-step too far by threatening employees with termination?
If they fail to keep employees engaged, how could they possibly keep their customers engaged?
Understandably, the bank needs to protect its own interests but may have crossed the line into the private lives of its employees.
All organisations that are embarking in social media should ensure that they have a clear policy in place to protect the company’s interests. A legal professional should always check it out and clear examples provided so as not to be misjudged by employees.
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