IT, Communication Systems & Social Media Policy

  

Company Name: Teachers Together Ltd (“the Company”) 

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Use: Internal Policy

 

Policy No.  ETCS1 

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Policy Name: IT, Communication Systems & Social Media Policy

 

Date: 17/12/2024

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Version: 2.0 

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1.    Overview

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Our IT and communications systems are intended to promote effective communication and working practices. This policy outlines the standards you must observe when using these systems, when we will monitor their use, and the action we will take if you breach these standards.

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The Company Director has overall responsibility for this policy, including keeping it under review.
 
Breach of this policy may be dealt with under our Disciplinary Procedure and, in serious cases, may be treated as gross misconduct leading to summary dismissal.

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This policy is applicable to all staff and third parties who have access to our electronic communication systems and equipment are also required to comply with this policy.  

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This policy shall apply during your employment including any period of garden leave (and where stated, also after your employment has ended).
 
This policy does not form part of any staff’s employment contract and we may amend it at any time.
 

2.    Systems and data security

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You should not delete, destroy or modify existing systems, programs, information or data (except as authorised in the proper performance of your duties).

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You must not download or install software from external sources without authorisation from the Line Manager. Downloading unauthorised software may interfere with our systems and may introduce viruses or other malware.

You must not attach any device or equipment including mobile phones, tablet computers or USB storage devices to our systems without authorisation from your Line Manager.
 
We monitor all e-mails passing through our system for viruses. You should exercise particular caution when opening unsolicited e-mails from unknown sources. If an email looks suspicious do not reply to it, open any attachments or click any links in it.
 
Inform your Line Manager immediately if you suspect your computer may have a virus.

3.    Passwords

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Your login codes and passwords are confidential and should be changed regularly. 

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Protect your passwords from the sight of others and do not disclose them to any unauthorised person.  

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Confidential Information should never be left open on the screen when equipment is unattended.

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The Company however reserves the right to access any related business accounts (whether email or networking sites), and in such cases you may be required to provide your access details to the Company’s Director / Data Protection Officer.

4.    Email

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Adopt a professional tone and observe appropriate etiquette when communicating with third parties by email.

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Remember that emails can be used in legal proceedings and that even deleted emails may remain on the system and be capable of being retrieved.
 
You must not send abusive, obscene, discriminatory, racist, harassing, derogatory, defamatory, pornographic or otherwise inappropriate emails.
 
You should not:

• send or forward private emails at work which you would not want a third party to read;

• send or forward chain mail, junk mail, cartoons, jokes or gossip;

• contribute to system congestion by sending trivial messages or unnecessarily copying or forwarding emails to others who do not have a real need to receive them; or

• send messages from another person’s email address (unless authorised) or under an assumed name.

 
Do not use your own personal email account to send or receive email for the purposes of our business. Only use the e-mail account we have provided for you and ensure emails are addressed to the correct recipient before sending.

 

5.    Out of office messages

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If you are planning to be out of the office for a morning or afternoon or longer,  put an “Out of Office” message on your emails and voicemail. The message should indicate when you will be next working and should identify another person whom the sender or caller can contact in your absence if  they need to.

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Your emails and phone calls may be monitored in your absence.

6.    Using the internet

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Internet access is provided primarily for business purposes. 

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You should not access any web page or download any image or other file from the internet which could be regarded as illegal, offensive, in bad taste or immoral. Even web content that is legal in the UK may be in sufficient bad taste to fall within this prohibition. 

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As a general rule, if any person (whether intended to view the page or not) might be offended by the contents of a page, or if the fact that our software has accessed the page or file that might be a source of embarrassment if made public, then viewing it will be a breach of this policy. 

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We may block or restrict access to some websites at our discretion.

7.    Personal use of our systems

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We permit the incidental use of our systems to send personal email, browse the internet and make personal telephone calls subject to certain conditions. Personal use is a privilege and not a right. It must not be overused or abused. We may withdraw permission for it at any time or restrict access at our discretion. 

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Personal use must meet the following conditions:

• it must be minimal and take place outside of normal working hours (that is, during your lunch break, and before or after work);

• it must not affect your work or interfere with the business;

• it must not commit us to any marginal costs; and

• it must comply with our policies including the Equality and Diversity Policy, Anti-harassment and Bullying Policy, Data Protection Policy and Disciplinary Procedure.

8.    Monitoring

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Our systems enable us to monitor telephone, email, voicemail, internet, Job Boards, professional networking sites and other communications. 

 

For business reasons, and in order to carry out legal obligations in our role as an employer, your use of our systems including the telephone and computer systems (including any personal use) may be continually monitored by automated software or otherwise.

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We reserve the right to retrieve the contents of email messages or check internet usage (including pages visited and searches made) as reasonably necessary in the interests of the business, including for the following purposes (this list is not exhaustive):
•    to monitor whether the use of the email system or the internet is legitimate and in accordance with this policy;
•    to find lost messages or to retrieve messages lost due to computer failure;
•    to assist in the investigation of alleged wrongdoing; or
•    to comply with any legal obligation.

 
9.    Prohibited use of our systems 

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Misuse or excessive personal use of our telephone or email system, or inappropriate internet use will be dealt with under our Disciplinary Procedure. Misuse of the internet can in some cases be a criminal offence.

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Creating, viewing, accessing, transmitting or downloading any of the following material will usually amount to gross misconduct (this list is not exhaustive): 

• pornographic material (that is, writing, pictures, films and video clips of a sexually explicit nature);

• offensive, obscene, or criminal material or material which is liable to cause embarrassment to us or our clients or colleagues or candidates;

• false and defamatory statements about any person or organisation;

• material which is discriminatory, offensive, derogatory or may cause embarrassment to others (including material which breaches our Equality and Diversity Policy or our Anti-harassment and Bullying Policy or our Data Protection Policy);

• forwarding or otherwise perpetuating junk mail or “chain-letter” type email within or outside the Company;  

• engaging in any behaviour which might cause either yourself or the Company to be in breach of the REC Code of Professional Conduct or in breach of any other relevant Codes of Professional Conduct or Practice; 

• confidential information about us or any of our staff or clients (except as authorised in the proper performance of your duties);

• downloading or the use of unauthorised software, without the specific approval of the Company Director or other person delegated by them to give such approval;

• removing any hardware or software from the IT facilities or the Company’s premises without prior approval of the Company Director; 

• any other statement which is likely to create any criminal or civil liability for yourself or the Company); 

• duplicating copyrighted or licensed music, images, videos, software or any other materials or information that may be subject to copyright laws, without the appropriate authorisation;

• selling or advertising anything via the Company or broadcast messages about lost property, sponsorship or charity appeals, without the written agreement of the Company Director.     

 
10.    Social media

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This deals with the use of all forms of social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Threads, WhatsApp, X (formerly known as Twitter), Bluesky and any other social networking sites, internet postings and blogs. It applies to use of social media for business purposes as well as personal use that may affect the Company in any way.
 
Avoid using social media in a way that could damage the Company interests or reputation, even indirectly.

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You must not use social media to defame or disparage us, our staff, suppliers affiliates, clients, candidates or any third party; to harass, bully or unlawfully discriminate against or make false or misleading statements; or to impersonate colleagues or third parties.
 
You must not express opinions on our behalf via social media, unless expressly authorised to do so by your manager. You may be required to undergo training in order to obtain such authorisation.
 
You must not post comments about sensitive or confidential company-related topics, such as our performance, or do anything to jeopardise our trade secrets, confidential information and intellectual property. You must not include our logos or other trademarks in any social media posting or in your profile on any social media.
 
You may be required to remove postings which may be considered to be in breach of this policy. This may include any ‘likes’ or ‘dislikes’ of other people’s posts or the re-posting/tweeting of other people’s comments or links to them which may constitute a breach of this policy.

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You must not make information available which could provide any person with unauthorised access to the Company, the Facilities and/or any Confidential Information.

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The contact details of business contacts made during the course of your employment are our confidential information. On termination of employment you must provide us with a copy of all such information, delete all such information from your personal social networking accounts and destroy any further copies of such information that you may have.

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Access to social networking sites using the facilities should be done outside office hours and be kept to a reasonable limit. If there is any evidence that this privilege is being abused, then the privilege may be withdrawn.

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You are reminded that communications via social media constitutes publication, just as printing in hard copy or via email is publication. 

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You personally, and/or the Company could face a defamation action should you publish unsubstantiated and potentially defamatory material.
 
Any misuse of social media should be reported to your Manager. 

11.    Guidelines for responsible use of social media

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You should make it clear in social media postings, or in your personal profile, that you are speaking on your own behalf, you should write in the first person and use a personal e-mail address.

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Be respectful to others when making any statement on social media and be aware that you are personally responsible for all communications which will be published on the internet for anyone to see.
 
If you disclose your affiliation with us on your profile or in any social media postings, you must state that your views do not represent those of your employer (unless you have been authorised to speak on our behalf). You should also ensure that your profile and any content you post are consistent with the professional image you present to clients and colleagues.
 
If you are uncertain or concerned about the appropriateness of any statement or posting, refrain from posting it until you have discussed it with your Line Manager.
 
If you see social media content that disparages or reflects poorly on us, you should speak to your Line Manager.    

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Company profile pages may only be edited by authorised users and it should be clear whether any published views are personal or those of the Company.

12.    Content and tone of communications

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All emails or postings or communications on networking sites should be courteous, professional and business-like, and should not contain any material which would reflect badly on the Company’s reputation. 

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If you receive an email, posting or other communication containing material that is offensive or inappropriate to the Company, inform the Company Director / Data Protection Officer (if there is one) and delete on their instruction. Under no circumstances should such emails, postings or communications be forwarded internally or externally. 

13.    Use of Jobs Boards and Networking Sites

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The Company may provide access to professional networking sites and Jobs Boards such as LinkedIn. These are valuable tools which the staff and the Company may use to help build brand, reputation and develop the business.

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Access is granted for work-related purposes only and should be done for the benefit of the Company alone.

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Professional networking activity may be done inside or outside of working hours, though keep personal contacts separate from professional contacts.

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Check with your Line Manager first before publishing comments or joining any other networking sites and using your work email address. If found to be inappropriate the Company may require you to cancel or remove an account.

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As well as there being many benefits to using networking sites, there can be risks to the Company’s confidential information, reputation, or compliance including Data Protection Laws. When downloading people’s personal details from Jobs Boards or networking sites, this constitutes “processing” for the purposes of the Data Protection Laws, for which the Company must have a lawful basis for processing. Caution must be exercised to ensure the data is recorded and used appropriately and with care. 

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REC Corporate members are also required to comply with the Code of Professional Practice and individual recruiters with the Code of Ethics of the Institute of Professional Recruiters.

14.    Termination of employment or engagement with the Company

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The restrictions on the use of Job-Boards and networking sites continue to apply throughout your employment with the Company including any period of garden leave you may serve.  

• All email address lists, or other contact information stored on the facilities are confidential information and remain the property of the Company even after the termination of your employment or engagement with the Company. 

• You may not copy or remove any email address lists or other contact information stored on the facilities without prior written permission from the Company. 

• You should ensure that any genuinely personal contacts are, where possible, stored separately from any Professional Contacts. 

• Upon termination of your employment or engagement for whatever reason you may seek the Company’s permission to remove or copy your personal contacts from the facilities.

• On or prior to the termination of your employment or engagement with the Company for whatever reason you must speak to your line manager to determine what steps to take in relation to any professional networking sites you use. 

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The Company reserves the right to require you to:

• advise your professional contacts on any professional Job-Board or networking site, of your leaving date and who they can contact at the Company after you have left;

• delete your account from any professional or social media networking sites including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, WhatsApp,  X (formerly known as Twitter), Bluesky and all other professional social networking sites, internet postings and blogs.

• delete all of your professional contacts and not retain a copy without prior written permission from the Company;

• provide passwords and account control of any business related professional networking sites to the Company Director. 

• the Company Director will be entitled to notify your contacts that they have taken over your account.

15.         Deleting or archiving material

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You should not store large quantities of e-mail or downloaded files or attachments as the retention of data utilises large amounts of storage space on network servers, PCs and mobile media, and can adversely affect system performance. 

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Delete any e-mails or other communications sent or received that no longer require action or are no longer relevant to your work or to the Company. 

Retain any information that you need for record-keeping purposes in line with the Company’s Data Protection policy.

16.    Unsolicited Communications which are not marketing

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The Company must establish that it has a lawful basis to process the individual’s personal data before it sends out any non-marketing communications.  

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Any marketing communications must comply with the Company’s Marketing Procedure Policy.

17.     Breach of this policy 

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Any member of staff suspected of committing a breach of this policy will be required to co-operate with our investigation. If you become aware of any breach of this policy by a colleague, you are required to advise the Company.

 

You may be required to remove any social media content that we consider to constitute a breach of this policy. 

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Breach of this policy may result in disciplinary action up to and including dismissal.