Social Media sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and even Instagram are a part of the modern workplace today. These tools are no longer just for personal use since many people use them in their professional lives as well. In the workplace, social media sites are being used for purposes such as marketing, employer branding, and corporate social responsibility. For instance, recruiters use LinkedIn to find and connect with candidates and sales professionals use it for lead generation. Many employees use Google + for the chat feature to connect instantly with colleagues or conduct industry Hangouts. As HR consultants, we are often asked about the pros and cons of allowing social media in the workplace when developing workplace social media policies.

“Uh oh Human Resources is in the building!” “Shhh…don’t say anything Human Resources is here!” “I better not say that because there is our HR person!” As a professional providing HR outsourcing, I believe we have all heard these statements or something similar. Now at first glance, this could provide a bit of a chuckle, but let’s take a deeper dive into the real background noise of it all.

What is an Employee Handbook and Why Do We Need One? An Employee Handbook is a guide that gives organizations a tool to communicate the expectations, role and responsibilities, as well as current policies and procedures within the organization to all employees. Legally there is no requirement for companies to provide an employee handbook; it does however, offer confirmation of processes and procedures if ever questioned legally. When a company reaches 15 employees, it's time to implement an employee handbook as a best practice. This is because at 15 employees, several federal acts apply such as the Civil Rights, Americans with Disabilities, and the Pregnancy Leave Act.

"In your opinion, what does the HR department do?” Is one of the first questions we ask during stakeholder interviews when conducting HR audits. Business leaders come to Helios HR for a variety of reasons: when they are establishing HR for the first time, believe they may need a change in their HR department, or after they've experienced rapid growth. With HR audits, we look at the effectiveness of the HR department including best practices and compliance.

Successful business strategy requires the support of an effective and productive workforce. Employers engaged in creating a motivated workforce will make significant efforts to ensure hiring decisions contribute positively to the team atmosphere. Even with the best of efforts, there will be times when personality conflicts arise.

We all want to ensure we hire the best candidate to fill our open positions. In doing so, we try to gather all of the pertinent information on each candidate in order to make an informed, sound decision. With that said, employers need to be proactive in regularly reviewing their background screening process so it is compliant with the latest federal and state regulations. One growing area for conducting background checks is social media. Employers have indicated social networks help find evidence of unprofessional behavior, such as complaints about previous employers or discussions of drug use. Some employers go as far as requiring candidates to disclose their usernames, passwords, and other credentials providing employer access to their social network accounts. There are several existing federal laws, such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Stored Communications Act, and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, may protect workers against discrimination and privacy violations related to social media.