• Permissible and impermissible uses: The policy should explain the permissible and impermissible uses of technology and social media. Items to address might include, for example, personal use of technology on work time, employees’ obligation not to use technology to engage in unlawful behavior, the need to protect confidential or trade secret information, and the need to respect others’ intellectual property rights. An employer may also want to prohibit employees from engaging in any company-related blogging, tweeting or the like without express written permission of the company to engage in such social networking activities on behalf of the business. • Lawfully Protected Employee Activity: In setting out any prohibited conduct in a workplace policy, employers must take care to balance the employer’s needs against employees’ legal rights. As discussed above, a job applicant’s or employee’s use of technology and online content may be legally protected by discrimination, anti-retaliation, lawful consumable products, lawful activity, labor law, or other laws. As such, an employer should be cautious in rejecting a job candidate or disciplining or terminating an employee for online activity to ensure that adverse action is not taken based on legally-protected activities by the individual. • Photography and Recording : Smartphones and other mobile devices make it far easier than in the past for employees to secretly record conversations at work or to take unauthorized photographs or videos that might be widely disseminated on the Internet and go “viral.” Depending on the employer’s business and its unique risks, a technology policy might include language prohibiting the use of devices to make recordings or take photographs or videos. • Return of Company Data : An employer should make clear that all
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