Employers Must Protect Themselves With a Social Media Policy

Online, April 5, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Founder of EZAccessPR, Nancy Conrad, is now offering a free social media policy template for businesses concerned with social media participation by employees whose online activities may directly impact the reputation of the business they work for.

The Social Media Policy Template, available online at EZAccessPR, can be tailored to any business. "Staff may be writing about work-related issues online, in a blog, or through social media," Conrad said. "If an employer feels they need to fire somebody because of something said online, then they should make it abundantly clear what their expectations are beforehand in this policy."

The Social Media Policy Template is a starting point for employers, she added, and something that a company owner, human resources department or supervisor should make available to employees. While employers can't deny free-speech rights, it's nonetheless important for staff to clearly understand what the boss expects.

"That doesn't mean that social media is necessarily a bad thing for the boss," Conrad added. "Instead, by working collaboratively with staff, and setting boundaries, it can work to everyone's benefit."

EZAccessPR, Conrad's brainchild launched in 2010, specializes in reputation management, public relations and social media. Conrad combines traditional and online public relations, social media, search engine optimization (SEO), and news placement to build profit into public relations and marketing efforts for medical service providers, hotels, restaurants, real estate companies, law firms, and many other businesses.

Conrad has spent 10 years working in public relations, government affairs, and website messaging through the expansion of two nationally-known Indian gaming concerns. With a background in journalism, she also operated a media and public relations business that served major timber companies, banks, and automobile service providers, helping them to establish and grow their relationship with their customers.