It’s Valentine’s Day! Cupid’s arrows are flying straight and true and filling the air with love. Everyone is happy and nothing about this Hallmark-approved magical day of romance could possibly mean problems for HR. Right?
I know, I know. I was just being facetious. As you probably already know, the hottest singles scene in the United States today is the workplace. Some surveys indicate that anywhere from one-third to one-half of all romances now start at work. What you might not know is that some of your employees are probably pursuing those office romances through “sexting” (sending sexually explicit text messages ).
While some of those sexts may be welcomed and reciprocated, some are “textual harassment,” which is simply another form of sexual harassment. Legally, it’s no different than committing harassment via e-mail, which was dubbed “e-harassment” by one court, though it may present different issues and obstacles for employers. To address and prevent textual harassment, you need both a clear electronic communications policy and a training program for employees regarding the use of electronic media.
Your policy should be issued annually, employees should be required to sign a form acknowledging its receipt, and it should:
- spell out the forms of electronic communications that are covered by your antiharassment policy (e.g., state that employees are prohibited from sending harassing messages via e-mail, text messages, and social networking sites);
- prohibit all forms of electronic harassment, whether based on sex or another legally protected characteristic (e.g., age, race, or disability); and
- require all employees to report any textual harassment.
Technology for HR manual and HR Laws subscribers’ tip: Learn what you should tell employees about using mobile technology.
Training should be conducted regularly, and you should send employees updates on emerging electronic communications issues to reinforce proper conduct. Employees should receive training that addresses some or all of the following issues:
- e-mails and text messages sent from a personal account to a coworker’s personal or company account are covered by your antiharassment policy;
- off-duty or outside-of-work conduct aimed at coworkers (e.g., posts on a social network) can still be investigated as potential harassment because of the workplace connection between the two individuals;
- posts on social networking sites may be viewed by persons outside the employee’s network of friends and may result in the employee being reported for harassing or inappropriate conduct; and
- accepted workplace behavior and etiquette standards should be observed, even in cyberspace communication.
Have you had problems with textual harassment? What happened and how did you handle it?
The Technology for HR manual will not only show you how to use texting as a useful HR tool, it also gives you step-by-step instructions for ensuring that employees’ texts don’t get you in trouble.
