Commonwealth Bank moves to assert control over employees' social media connections

The Commonwealth Bank is set to meet with the Financial Services Union (FSU) to discuss the company's controversial social media policy, which requests that workers inform the bank if they see any negative comment about the company on a social media site, including their own Facebook page.

"The FSU believes the policy is so broad that it goes beyond conduct which the bank could legitimately claim involved damage to its reputation or interest and/or was such as to give rise to a concern about an employee's implied contractual obligation of good faith and loyalty," the union says.

However, the Commonwealth Bank has said in a statement it believes the policy allows it to help customers quicker through social media.

"The Commonwealth Bank considers social media to be a very important part of its communication and customer engagement processes. In this regard, the Bank recently introduced a Social Media Policy for its staff."

"Many customer issues and complaints raised through social media channels have been resolved through staff tip offs and we encourage our staff to continue to alert us to this feedback so we can provide customer support and outcomes."

The statement also confirmed that a meeting had been arranged with the FSU to address its concerns, and said that it may amend the policy "where it is considered reasonable to do so".

The social media policy itself makes fairly standard requests that employees posting on social media sites broadcast they are CBA workers and they do not speak officially for the company.

However, the FSU has taken issue with one part of the policy that mandates employees report any type of negative comments they see made by friends or family on social networks, including Facebook and Twitter.

"Inappropriate or disparaging content and information stored or posted by others (including non-employees) in the social media environment may also damage the group and its reputation," the policy states.

"For example, your friend could post an inappropriate comment about the group on your Facebook page or create a blog about the group."

The policy then goes on to say 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.

At this stage, the FSU says that the policy needs to be reviewed as failure to comply with the social media policy-which could be as simple as an online conversation about the colour of the company's tea cups- can result in termination….Read more from Smart Company.

Source:
Fast Thinking