RSS
 

Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category

Dnt Txt N Drv

17 May

While many states, including Pennsylvania, have implemented laws the ban texting while driving, the federal government has also thrown its hat into the ring. The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) has implemented a Distracted Driving Initiative, which will focus on texting while driving.

OSHA calls upon all employers to ban texting while driving and remove any practice or policy that requires or encourages workers to text while driving. The first part of OSHA’s call to action is certainly easy to implement. Simply add a section in your employee handbook prohibiting texting while driving (and maybe take it a step further by prohibiting cell phone use in general while driving) and ensure that all of your employees are aware of the policy.

The second part, removing practices or policies that require or encourage texting while driving, is a little more confusing and, possibly, more difficult to implement. If your policies and practices require texting while driving, create incentives that encourage it or if work is structured so that texting is a practical necessity for workers to carry out their job, you may be subject to an OSHA fine.

For example, if your employee is required to make a certain number of deliveries each day and must stay in contact with other employees or customers via text message or email, you could be fined by OSHA And in this case, the employee would not even need to have an accident for you to be fined, OSHA could find the violation due to an employee complaint or an inspection.

If OSHA does find a violation, it will issue a General Duty Claus citation, which carries a maximum penalty of $70,000 per Willful or Repeat violation or $7,000 per Serious Violation. Given the announcement of this Initiative, expect OSHA to respond aggressively to any accident where distracted driving may have been a factor or if an employee complaint is lodged.

Employers should implement policies that clearly prohibit texting or emailing while driving any company vehicle or while driving on the job. The policies must be communicated to all employees. Any practice that requires or encourages employees to text or email while driving, even if the encouragement is indirect, should be removed or rewritten so that it clearly forbids texting while driving. Erring on the side of caution now may save you thousands of dollars, and potentially employee lives, in the future.

Share
 
No Comments

Posted in Department of Labor, Employee Handbook, Employer Policies, OSHA, Technology

 

Will a BYOD Policy W-O-R-K for You?

29 Mar

One of the most popular trends in the IT world right now is the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) approach, where employees use their own mobile device at work. Its another case of new technology creating new problems. Before implementing a BYOD policy, you need to weigh the risks against the cost benefits.

IT departments have spent years working on desktop security and trying to prevent data loss via web and email, but employees are increasingly accessing corporate data with their own smartphones and tablets. As a result, employers have much less control over the security protecting their corporate data. Unlike desktops, very few people have protection against viruses and malware on their smartphones and tablets. Thirty-seven percent of IT decision makers reported that their business had unintentionally exposed corporate data through theft or loss of removable devices in the past two years.

From a legal standpoint, ownership of the smartphone or tablet is irrelevant in case of a lawsuit. Current discovery rules require litigation parties to preserve all relevant electronic data, which will include information stored on employee devices. Employees will need make any personal information stored on their devices accessible, including the history of the websites visited, songs and movies downloaded and played, copy of financial transactions or statements, the list of personal contacts and electronic communications including personal emails, personal phone call, text messages and various social media activities including Facebook, Twitter and VoIP services such as Skype.

While employees may initially be happy to choose their own device for work, that happiness may fade when the reality of the BYOD policy sets in. The IT department may restrict access to certain device features, like the application store, camera and media tagged as explicit. Employees may lose personal information if their device has to be remotely wiped. Employees may also be concerned that the IT department could access their personal data, even though most device management solutions do not allow such intrusions. Finally, if an employee is on a business trip, and loses their smartphone or tablet, there will likely be some confusion as to who is responsible for replacing the device.

Despite the risks, a BYOD policy may be the right choice for your business. You can adopt certain policies, which must be clearly communicated to employees, to help mitigate the risks. Any lost personally-owned or personally-owned devices belonging to a terminated employee should be remotely wiped. Employees should be prohibited from storing confidential corporate data or credit card data on unencrypted devices. Employees should also be prohibited from conducting any company business through the use of personal accounts, such as text messaging or email. And, as with all technology-based policies, it’s important to remember that the policies must evolve and change along with the technology, as it seems like smartphones and tablets have new features every day.

Share
 
4 Comments

Posted in Employee Handbook, Employer Policies, Employer-employee relations, Technology

 

The Cost of Curiosity

21 Mar

In a growing trend, employers are asking job applicants and employees to provide login information to their Facebook pages and other social networking accounts. Many are questioning the propriety of asking for login information, particularly because an applicant or employee may believe refusing will cost them a job. However, even reviewing social media profiles, or utilizing a third-party application, to obtain information about applicants and employees may expose employers to legal liability.

Facebook has already confirmed that password sharing is prohibited under its Terms of Service. Facebook’s “Statement of Rights and Responsibilities” Section 4(8) explicitly prohibits password sharing:   “You will not share your password, (or in case of developers, your secret key), let anyone else access your account, or do anything else that might jeopardize the security of your account.” While violating the letter or spirit of the Facebook Rights and Responsibilities can lead to deletion of the user’s Facebook account, there are few real legal consequences for such violations. The Department of Justice regards entering a social networking site in violation of the terms of service to be a federal crime, but admitted that they would not prosecute offenders.

There are real legal dangers in asking an applicant or employee for login information, or even reviewing their social media accounts.  Many people post information on social media sites that may show a protected status (age, sex, religion, disability, genetic information, race, national origin and pregnancy), lawful off-duty conduct (alcohol or smoking), or criminal history.  Such information may be, albeit unintentionally, factored into hiring or workplace decisions. It could be particularly damaging if an employer requested access to social media accounts, and then makes a decision that detrimentally affects the applicant or employee. It simply creates more fodder for a potential lawsuit.

Employers that insist on reviewing applicant or employee social media profiles should take steps to maintain objectivity. Assigning a non-decision-maker to review the social media profiles, before passing on relevant information onto the hiring personnel, can help to prevent those making the hiring decision from relying on improper information. Employers may also want to limit their social media search to LinkedIn, because it is a professional site, which is much less likely to display improper information.

In the end, employers are generally better off not trying to obtain information about applicants and employees via Facebook and other social networks. The possibility that important information may be unearthed is greatly outweighed by the potential legal pitfalls and lawsuits a search may create.

Hat-tip and thanks to Susan Stobbart Shapiro

Share
 
2 Comments

Posted in Employer-employee relations, Hiring and Recruitment, Social Media, Technology

 

Managing the Madness

12 Mar

Yesterday, the 68 teams taking part in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship were announced, and on March 13, 2012, March Madness begins. Employees will have access to scores, streaming audio and streaming video for all 67 games on their work computers, smartphones and tablets. It is estimated that more than 50 million Americans will participate in March Madness pools, with an estimated $2 billion loss in employee productivity.  In addition, 37% of IT professionals report that employees streaming March Madness games slowed down their company network, while 34% report that March Madness activity has essentially shut down their network for a period of time.

Many employers already have Internet usage policies prohibiting personal Internet usage, and now would be an appropriate time to circulate an email or memo around the office reminding employees of the policy. Employers can certainly block the websites where the games are streamed, or throttle streaming.

With the explosion of smartphones and tablets, employees also have an alternative way to follow the March Madness games. If an employer already has a policy regarding personal smartphone or tablet usage during work hours, now is an ideal time to remind employees. If no such policy exists, employers can circulate a reminder that excessive smartphone and tablet usage should be avoided, at any time, not just during March Madness.

Of course, employers can certainly embrace March Madness as a time to boost employee morale and provide an outlet for what employees may already be doing surreptitiously. Employers may want to allow flexible break scheduling for employees to watch the end of important games, which will allow for a balance between productivity and employee morale. Employees who are able to check scores or watch games during breaks are less likely to have a decrease in productivity. In addition, allowing employees to watch games on television in the breakroom will help to relieve the stress on the company network.

Any employer-condoned basketball pool should not require an entry fee or award a cash prize, nor should it be limited to any particular groups, lest there be any accusations of employer-approved gambling or discrimination. The pool should be open to anyone who wishes to enter, and a gift card to a local establishment is a good prize. Employers may even choose to loosen the dress code, to allow employees to wear team apparel, or at least team colors.

There is no right or wrong answer with regard to allowing employees to engage in March Madness activities at work or not. Each employer must make its own decision, depending on the number of employees and office culture. However, clear communication with employees is key, and any policy should be administered consistently and uniformly.

Share
 
No Comments

Posted in Employee Handbook, Employer Policies, Employer-employee relations, Technology

 

The Problem’s Not Just Porn Anymore

05 Mar

Computer policies used to be fairly simple: no personal emails, no surfing the internet on company time, and especially no porn. Now, with social media and “the cloud,” there are so many more avenues for trouble.

One of the more prevalent issues recently has been who owns Twitter followers when an employee leaves.  The issue is particularly thorny when the employee was hired to manage the employer’s official Twitter account.  The employer will argue that the followers belong to it, because the employee’s job was to send out tweets and increase the number of followers. On the other hand, the employee will argue that the Twitter followers belong to him or her, because they put in all the work to increase the number of followers. While no courts have decided this new issue yet, I believe the best way to view the situation is with a comparison. If the employee was hired to create a paper sales directory, and charged with increasing the number and quality of the contacts in that directory, but was not actually selling the contacts anything, do you think he owns the contacts he added? It seems to me that the contacts would belong to the employer.

Social media also provides an opportunity for employees to voice their opinions, to an increasingly large audience, with no filter.  There have been a number of recent examples of tweets sent out by employees, sometimes using the company’s official Twitter account, making statements harmful to the company. Even when these employees are punished or terminated, the harmful statement will live on until it is deleted, or sometimes longer with media coverage.

Of course, sometimes employees cannot be punished, even for openly criticizing their employer on a social media site.  The NLRB ruled that a group of employees disparaging their employer on a social media site could not be terminated, because the discussion was protected concerted activity.

Another issue for employers, and one that is receiving far less attention, is the danger that “the cloud” poses. There are a number of different services that allow a user to sync files on their computer into “the cloud” (aka servers at different locations accessible from any computer via a web browser or dedicated application). Users can then choose to sync those files in the cloud onto their home computer. Initially, it seems like a great idea. It gives an employee access to their most important documents anywhere. After all, no one wants to fly off to give a presentation only to realize they forgot to copy it to a flash drive or their laptop.  However, an employer does not have any control over who accesses the employee’s home computer, nor can it control the level of anti-virus or firewall protection the employee uses. Any number of viruses or malware, or even good old-fashioned people, can access the employer’s important data without its knowledge.

While the new dangers inherent with computer use are increasing at a rapid pace, carefully crafted computer usage and social media policies will go a long way toward helping to limit those dangers.  And when crafting  new or updated policies, it is particularly important to utilize legal counsel that understands the ever-changing challenges that new technology and innovation create.

Share
 
2 Comments

Posted in Employer Policies, Employer-employee relations, NLRB, Social Media, Technology