The Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT)recently found in favour of an employee who had been dismissed for breachingthe company’s social media policy due to the fact that the social media policyhad not been properly implemented and not all employees were fully aware of it.
Background
This case involved an employee, who wasemployed by the employer as a driver until his dismissal on 13 February 2014for gross misconduct.
The employee videoed one of theemployer’s trucks being incorrectly loaded and shared it on a chat forumspecifically for car transportation drivers. The employer claimed that as thisvideo would damage the company’s reputation with clients, the actionconstituted gross misconduct. The employer also alleged that the employee hadbeen reprimanded for a similar offence earlier in his career with the companyand that he had broken the social media policy which was introduced as a resultof that earlier offence. The employee argued that he had not received thesocial media policy due to a change in his address and that there was noreference to social media in the employee handbook.
Decision
The EAT awarded the employee €7,500. Itdetermined that the impugned conduct was not in dispute and therefore thedisciplinary procedures followed by the employer were correct but that becauseof the employee’s good record and admission of responsibility his dismissal wasdisproportionate.
Comment
William Fry’s Employment Snapshot2016 – Social Media in the Workplace, highlights that as of May 2016,only 39% of employers in Ireland have a social media policy in place. This case reinforces the importance of social media polices and the needfor a social media policy to be implemented carefully within companies.Companies should furthermore ensure that employees are made aware of the policyin their initial employment contract, that they are aware of their obligationsunder the policy and that they fully understand the policy.
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Contributed by CatherineO’Flynn & Aedín Brennan
