Are there any steps that a company or municipality can take with respect to its internal use of technology, i.e. its employee’s use of blogs, social networking sites, internet use, email etc?

Intellectual Property, Technology Law Comments (0)

There is no law that requires an employer to create, maintain or provide employees with policies pertaining to the use of technology facilities. This requires a delicate balance between the need for employee privacy and employer’s business needs. Every employer must proactively manage employee email, internet use and blogs while at the same time not restricting employee’s freedom of expression and creativity.

Some of the reasons for maintaining and enforcing technology policies are as follows:

Save time. A written policy lets your management spend less time answering the same questions over and over and focus its energy on critical issues like strategic business planning.

Help you introduce a new employee to the organization by providing an overview of the company’s corporate culture and mission.

Documented policies create a sense of fairness and equality. They help avoid accusations of favoritism and help foster employee productivity, loyalty and prevent disputes. Disputes are not taken online to a wider audience.

Written policies may assist in defense against standard employment claims brought by a disgruntled former employee. In the context of litigation, remember that ignorance is not bliss.

Protect your information technology infrastructure from viruses, worms, spyware and malware.

Reduce the possibility of imposition of legal liability on employer for the acts of an employee, e.g. harassment claims due to employees surfing adult websites, downloading of copyrighted material by employees or defamation claims.

My recommendation would be to review such policies and update them frequently as new forms of communication are adopted by the company. Whatever you do, please do not borrow a policy from another company or copy one off the internet without revisions and tailoring to fit your corporate policy and culture.

About:  Dr. Rayan F. Coutinho is an Intellectual Property and Technology Law attorney at the law firm of Wood & Lamping LLP and can be reached at 513-852-6030 or by email at rfcoutinho@woodlamping.com.

admin @ August 19, 2009