TikTok is home to many viral video trends, including “day in the life” and “story time” videos. “Day in the life” videos frequently contain short, collected clips of a user’s day with music, text, or voice-overs explaining their day-to-day roles (and possibly their workplace).
For example, a “day in the life” video may feature an attorney badging into their office building, walking to their office, getting a cup of coffee, and sitting down at their desk to work on a brief.
“Story time” videos are often first-person videos of an individual explaining something that happened to them at work and are typically filmed outside the workplace and not in uniform. For example, a “story time” video may feature a worker in their living room explaining a story about a “crazy customer” or about their “bad coworker’s” behavior that day.
While the risks of social media in the workplace may seem obvious to some, platforms are complicated to navigate as it applies to employees and their rights. Work-place content has become incredibly popular on social media platforms, like TikTok, and there are several considerations that these trends have brought to light.
Update Your Social Media Policies
Employers should update their social media policies to reflect that employees should protect client, patient, and other confidential information.
A social media policy may permit employees to only use social media during breaks, or limit employees’ social media use to an area that does not pose a risk of exposing confidential information.
For example, a medical facility employer may consider limiting employees’ social media use to avoid the risk of an event like a nurse posting a “day in the life” video which inadvertently contains a patient’s name and care plan in their hospital room.
Consider Employee Relations
Another concern regarding social media posts in the workplace is coworker privacy. Employees should be aware that posting content which could be construed as harassing, discriminatory, or otherwise sensitive in nature could lead to workplace conflict.
For example, an employee who creates a “story time” video discussing their dislike of a coworker or supervisor could be interpreted as insensitive, harmful to the company brand, and potentially disruptive to the workplace.
Employees may also feel on edge knowing that their colleagues are posting about the workplace, which can lead to decreased morale. Of course, complaining about harassment or supervisor conduct is a form of protected activity, so policies must be crafted to avoid interpretation as “tending to chill” employees’ exercise of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act.
Know Your Limits
Various employment laws provide free speech protections, such as discussing concerted bargaining efforts, wages, unsafe working conditions, or harassment. Any updates to a social media policy should make it abundantly clear to employees that the policy is not intended to infringe upon these protections under the law.
Carefully crafting a social media policy reduces the risks that businesses may face in the rise of social media trends capturing employees’ day-to-day experiences.
If you need assistance with drafting or revising a social media policy, please contact your local FordHarrison team with any questions or to schedule a consultation.