Camping In Ontario Update Newsletter June 2019 June 2013 | Page 10

CAMPING IN ONTARIO UPDATE | 10

Social Media and Harassment
Workplace harassment is any “vexatious comments or conduct”
that the person ought to know is unwelcome, as per the Ministry of
Labour. “Vexatious comments or conduct” could mean anything that
makes a person feel uncomfortable. The obvious examples are insults, unwanted sexual advances, inappropriate touching, racial slurs,
etc. The grey areas cover any situation where an employee is made to
feel uncomfortable by the comments or conduct of someone else in
the workplace.
“Social Media is a means by which people can communicate and
interact with a worldwide audience via the internet. Social Media differs from traditional media in that it allows participants to shift between the role of audience and author, and can be carried out without
any expense or specialised knowledge.”
As if employers didn’t have enough trouble preventing harassment
in the workplace, now employees have newer, more subtle ways to
send and receive offensive comments, photos, and videos. From smartphones to social networking sites to instant sharing and Tweeted updates, the potential for employees to make offense and take offense has
increased along with new technologies.
Common examples of Social Media sites or activities include, but
are not limited to:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Flikr
• LinkedIn
• YouTube
• Blogs

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While employees may dismiss a message as “just a joke,” employers
know that employees often disagree about where joking ends and harassment begins. An employee who claims harassment from social
media has a record of evidence located on whatever electronic device,
personal or otherwise, received the offensive messages.
Some of the challenges employers are facing include:
• Virtual harassment - harassment through a social media site, for
example, “friending” a co-worker on Facebook and then sending
offensive messages (or repeated requests for a date)
• Textual harassment - harassing, intimidating, or inappropriate
text messages
• Sexting - sexually explicit or offensive photos or videos sent via
electronic media
• Cyber stalking - harassing an employee by following him or her
on blogs, posts, and social websites
In addition, employees may not understand that offensive electronic
communications affecting the workplace can constitute workplace
harassment - regardless of whose electronic device is used. Many employees may believe that off-duty conduct outside the workplace is
unrelated to an employer’s responsibility to maintain a workplace
free of discrimination.
So what can employers do to prevent workplace harassment in all
its new electronic forms?
Although social media is new, the methods for controlling or regulating employee conduct with respect to these new tools is traditional.
The starting point for managing social media should make use of a
company’s internet policy.
Employers should create a clear social media policy that addresses
electronic communications and then ensure the employees understand what the policy means and how it affects their communications.
The policy should be designed to mitigate problems before they occur
and clearly communicate the employer’s expectations regarding the
employee’s use of social media both at work and during their free time.
In addition to covering electronic communications and prohibiting
harassment, the policy should also notify employees that there is no
expectation of privacy in electronic communications on the employer’s communication systems or in their electronic communications
with other employees, regardless of whose device is used. An employer
may also want to add a section on electronic communications to its existing policy against harassment and retaliation to remind employees
that all forms of harassment are unlawful.
Training should reflect the employer’s policies, emphasizing that
inappropriate or offensive conduct is always unacceptable, regardless
of how the message is delivered. If a comment is offensive when communicated face-to-face, it’s offensive when posted, texted, or otherwise
communicated via electronic media.