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Conduct and Compliance Procedure – Staff Use of Social Media

Parent policy

Conduct and Compliance Policy

Preamble

Social media allows for the easy sharing and re-purposing of information, expanding the reach of our professional efforts and enabling others to share information with their friends and networks. Social media has become an important tool of professional and business engagement.

The University embraces the use of social media by staff to connect with students, researchers, business partners, alumni, colleagues and other stakeholders.

Given the public and external nature of social media, it is important that staff who use social media either as part of their job or in a personal capacity understand the University's expectations.

The purpose of this procedure is to advise University staff on their use of social media for professional purposes, and also for personal use where a staff member can be identified as an employee of Monash University.  The identification may be though means such as the staff member's social media name, character, profile or comments.

This procedure is applicable to all staff and contractors of the University's Australian campuses.

Definitions

Identifiable personal use: Use of social media where a staff member can be identified as an employee of Monash University.  The identification may be though means such as the staff member's social media name, character, profile or comments.

Social media: Online media designed to allow information to be shared and disseminated and created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media services include, but are not limited to:

  • social and professional networking sites (eg Facebook, LinkedIn, Myspace, Bebo, Yammer)
  • geo-spatial tagging (FourSquare)
  • blogs, including corporate blogs and personal blogs
  • micro-blogging (eg Twitter)
  • video and photo sharing websites (eg Flickr, Youtube)
  • blogs hosted by media outlets (eg ‘comments' or ‘your say' feature on theage.com.au)
  • wikis and online collaborations (eg Wikipedia)
  • forums, discussion boards and groups (eg Google groups, Whirlpool)
  • vod and podcasting
  • online multiplayer gaming platforms (eg World of Warcraft, Second life)
  • instant messaging (including SMS)

This procedure covers the use of social media by any means including using any computer, tablet, mobile phone or handheld device.

Staff: a person employed by the University who has an ongoing, fixed term or casual contract under the terms of any of the University's Enterprise Agreements.

1. Professional Use of Social Media

The use of official Monash University social media sites, the conduct of authorised spokespeople for Monash University and use of social media by staff where this is ‘in connection with Monash University' are addressed in the Social Media Policy (Global Engagement) and Social Media Procedures (Global Engagement).

Staff may also use social media for professional, University-related purposes in compliance with this procedure.

2. Personal Use of Social Media

The University does not intend to unduly restrict its staff members' use of social media in their personal lives. However where a staff member makes identifiable personal use of social media, this can have a significant impact on the University's reputation and other interests, directly or indirectly. Accordingly, staff members who engage in identifiable personal use of social media must minimise the risk of damage to Monash University.

Staff members are personally responsible for use of social media in a personal capacity, including for the content they publish.

3. Rules for Use of Social Media

In professional use and identifiable personal use of social media, staff must:

  • a) only disclose and discuss publicly available information;
  • b) ensure that all content published is accurate and not misleading;
  • c) ensure that all content published complies with all relevant policies of the University;
  • d) expressly state on all postings that the stated views are their own and are not those of the University (unless they are officially authorised by the University under the relevant procedure);
  • e) be professional in nature;
  • f) adhere to the Terms of Use of the relevant social media platform/website; and
  • g) comply with the laws of copyright, privacy, defamation, contempt of court, discrimination and harassment, and all other applicable laws.

When accessing social media via the University's Internet, intranet and extranet systems, staff members must do so in accordance with Monash University's Information Technology Use Policy - Staff and Other Authorised Users, which requires that staff use these resources in a manner that is reasonable, responsible, ethical and lawful.

4. Specific Prohibitions

In professional use and identifiable personal use of social media, staff must not:

  • make any comment or post material that is, or might be construed to be, offensive, obscene, defamatory, discriminatory, hateful, racist or sexist towards any person;
  • make any comment or post material that creates, or might be construed to create, a risk to the health and safety of a staff member, contractor, student or other person, including material that amounts to "unacceptable behaviour" such as bullying, psychological or emotional violence, coercion, harassment, aggressive or abusive comments or behaviour, and/or unreasonable demands or undue pressure;
  • make any comment or post material that infringes copyright, is fraudulent, breaches intellectual property rights, constitutes a contempt of court, constitutes stalking, breaches a Court suppression order, or is otherwise unlawful;
  • imply that they are authorised to speak as a representative of the University, nor give the impression that the views they express are those of the University (unless they are officially authorised by the University under the relevant procedure);
  • use the identity or likeness of another employee, contractor, student or other stakeholder of the University;
  • use or disclose any confidential information obtained in their capacity as an employee or contractor of the University; and
  • subject to the Conduct and Compliance Procedure - Representing Monash (Public Utterances) make any comment or post material that might otherwise cause damage to the University's reputation or bring it into disrepute.

5. Breach

Depending on the circumstances, non-compliance with this procedure may constitute a breach of employment or contractual obligations, misconduct, sexual harassment, discrimination, or some other contravention of policy, procedure or the law. Those who fail to comply with this procedure may face disciplinary action and, in serious cases, termination of their employment or engagement.

If a staff member notices inappropriate or unlawful content online relating to Monash University, or content that may otherwise have been published in breach of this procedure, the staff member should report that content via email to WorkplaceRelations@monash.edu.

Breaches of privacy, equal opportunity or other Monash University procedures should also be reported in accordance with those procedures.

If directed by the University, a staff member must remove, and cooperate with all attempts to remove, any comment, post or other online content that the University deems to be in breach of this procedure or any other University procedure.

Responsibility

Staff using social media for professional or personal use must read, understand and comply with this procedure.

Related procedures

Version number: 1.0
Effective date: 17 October 2012
Procedure author: Director Workplace Relations
Procedure owner: Executive Director, Monash HR
Contact:
  • Ask.Monash
  • Or phone Monash HR on 990 20400
  • Or Monash South Africa 011 9504141