Question 125: In the context of the labour law covering no clear regulations on the labour issues related to the media and social network and local labour agencies still identify this as one of the new issues, which leaves them quite embarrassed by the guidance, according to you, what should an enterprise do to protect itself in this case?



The current labour law does not contain regulations governing the use of media and social network within the enterprise. This leads to the fact that many local labour agencies are rather hesitant in guiding enterprises to develop internal labour regulations related to these contents. For enterprises to take the initiative in preventing risks before the strong development of information technology and the influence of the prevailing media and social network, from practical experience, enterprises should pay attention to the following issues:

  • Firstly, enterprises should identify the positive and negative aspects of their using media and social network, thereby promoting the benefits brought by the use of media and social network such as creating a cohesive relationship with colleagues and increase your enterprise’s outbound communications to develop your corporate brand. At the same time, enterprises should also seek ways to minimise the risk of Employees abusing social networks that affect productivity, performance, or showing acts that damage Employers.
  • In order to effectively conduct the said use, an enterprise may issue a separate internal policy (in addition to ILRs) regarding the Employee’s responsibility for using the appropriate information in response to the media and social networks to provide clear, necessary guidelines that help Employees better understand this policy at the request of the Employer.
  • Secondly, Employers should clearly specify the violations related to the media and social network in the ILRs and in case of committing such violations, Employees may be subjected to disciplinary action in one of the forms of reprimand, removal from office, salary raise prolongation of less than 06 months or dismissal depending on the violation extent; at the same time, notify Employees and post the main contents of the ILRs at the necessary positions at the workplace for Employees to grasp these regulations; and
  • Thirdly, Employers should also organise internal training sessions for Employees to disseminate and answer their questions so that they can better understand the effects of media and social network in the workplace, thereby developing the sense of self-conscious control of their own behaviours in response to the media and social networks.