Social Media and Medical Practices

Legal and Practical Issues Every Employer Should Consider

AGENDA

Today we’re going to cover the following:•What is Social Media?•Reputation Management•Recruiting and Hiring Considerations•Discipline•Employment Policies

Legal Disclaimer

This presentation is for information only and is not legal advice.

You should NOT rely on the information for any legal purpose. You should consult your

attorney with any questions.

Medical Marketing Enterprises, LLC and Amy Wong, Esq. disclaim all liability with respect to any actions taken based on the content of this

presentation.

What is Social Media?

Simply put….it’s the way we communicate over technology.

Why use social media?Branding

Word of Mouth AdvertisingProvide Information

Reputation Management

Social Media Platforms?• FaceBook• Twitter• FourSquare• YouTube• Pinterest• LinkedIn• G+

I love to give presentations.Speaking at #MCMSI’m at Watch my presentationHere’s a slideshowMy skills include I’m an attorney/consultant

• Federal/ State• EEO• National Labor Relations Act• FTC• Fair Labor Standards Act

Applicable Laws

-Actively Listen-Engage with your community- If you don’t create a channel for communication, someone else will…..

“Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it - the real thing is the tree.” Abraham Lincoln

Reputation: Take Control of Your Community

Health Care Compliance Association and Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics, May 2011

* 42% of employers disciplined employees for activities of FB, Twitter or LinkedIn.

* 31% have adopted social media policies that dictate the use of social media. (work and non-work hours)

Disparate Treatment

Intentionally treating members of a protected class differently. (race, color, sex, religion, or national origin)•No standard for evaluating information found on different social media platforms. •Checking social media on only a few of the applicants.

Disparate Impact

Employment practices have a statistically greater impact on one group than on another. (e.g., hiring, firing, promotion, pay or other employment decisions)

* Policies or practices that are evaluating applicants based on number of likes, friends, etc…

Recruiting and Hiring

Who owns a company twitter account when the employee leaves or is terminated?____________________________________In 2006 Noah Kravitz was hired as a product reviewer/video blogger. He was assigned @phoneDog_Noah. He acquired 17,000 followers in four years. In 2010, he resigned and changed his twitter handle to @noahkravitz. Prevailing rates per follower/per month $2.50? Who gets to keep the account?

Ownership

Amy, a receptionist, at Practice ABC really likes FB and Twitter. She designed and now maintains ABC’s FB and Twitter page. Her manager told her they look great, but the practice is busy enough and doesn’t really need the exposure. Amy continues to maintain the web pages.

Concerns?

• Is enforced by the National Labor Relations Board.

• Protects the rights of employees in the private sector to engage in concerted activity.– -Concerted activity: activity that is engaged in,

with, or on the authority of other employees and is not solely on behalf of the employee himself.

– -Protected activity: actions for mutual aid and protection…statements regarding working conditions.

National Labor Relations Act (1935)

You own ABC optical shop and are having a customer appreciation day. Your employees work on commission. You purchase chips, hot dogs, fruit, water and cookies for the event. During a staff planning meeting your employees tell you they are not happy with the quality of the food choices for the event. After the meeting they continue the discussion and worry how this could impact the potential turn-out. After the event, an employee tells the group he will post pictures with comments on his Facebook wall.

FaceBook Posting

The employee makes the following FB posting:“I was happy to see that ABC Optical went all out for our customer appreciation day by providing small bags of chips, inexpensive cookies, semi-fresh fruit, and a hot dog cart where customers could get overcooked hot dogs and stale buns.”

FaceBook Posting

ABC Optical had the following employment policy:“Employees at ABC Optical are “at will” employees. This means ABC employees may be terminated at any time for any reason, with or without advance notice.”

Was the termination upheld?

Employment at Will

Employee was:-Vocalizing the sentiments of his coworkers.-Continuing the course of concerted activity that began when the salespeople initially raised their concerns

National Labor Relations Act

“Employees are prohibited from discussing their salary or wage levels and company benefits with other employees. Such information is confidential and may

not be discussed in the workplace.”

Employee Manual

Social Media Policy:Prohibited “discriminatory, defamatory, or harassing web entries about specific

employees, work environment, or work-related issues on social media sites.”

Employee Manual

Employee prohibited from “disclosing or communicating information of a

confidential, sensitive, or non-public information concerning the company on or through company property to anyone

outside the company without prior approval of senior management or the

law department.”

Communications Policy

SHARE your (Practice Name) experience on our WALL between **Now and ______** and be entered to WIN a "$150 GIFT CARD" towards a great pair of glasses…Giorgio Armani, Vera Wang, etc...!)

We love hearing from you!

Terms of Use

Terms of Useiii. You must not condition registration or entry upon the user taking any action using any Facebook features or functionality other than liking a Page, checking in to a Place, or connecting to your app. For example, you must not condition registration or entry upon the user liking a Wall post, or commenting or uploading a photo on a Wall.

Twitter Posts from September 2012“My boss told me to stop what I was doing, take 5 minutes and go to the bathroom and fix my hair.”“Me and my boss were talking about getting drunk. LoL”“I hate it when I’m eavesdropping on my boss’s convo with the art director and suddenly he speaks Cantonese”“When I got to work, my boss had sex with me then gave me a promotion”

Twitter Posting

“I’m not sure this overtime pay is worth this bullshit. Medsurg patients with no tech or help suck”