Managing a LinkedIn company page effectively is key to building a strong online presence, fostering relationships, and attracting talent. With over 930 million users on LinkedIn, your company page can become a hub for networking, branding, and driving business results.
On the other side of the coin, LinkedIn is also a great way for employees to help foster your small business branding and digital presence. It is one thing to ask your employees to join in on the fun by sharing posts, liking company updates, and branding their personal accounts. Requiring it, on the other hand, is tricky.
In this blog the ClarityHR team is going to give you some ideas to help your business profile on LinkedIn, and also explore the do’s and don’ts of what we can ask of employees. Together, we can all get the most out of this important business tool.
Who Owns Business Social Media Profiles?
For many small businesses, it is common for the business owner to have an employee manage social media profiles like LinkedIn. But what if your business does not have a company profile and an employee sets it up? Who owns it? Does the business owner or the employee?
With LinkedIn, setting up a company profile must be initiated from a personal profile. That person is then the “administrator” of the account. You can then add people from an organization to your business profile to help manage content and update company information. What happens if the individual that sets it up, leaves? What if they were the only ones with access to your business profile?
As a best practice, it is important to have a social media policy for your business. Even small businesses need employees to understand who retains ownership of your digital assets like your LinkedIn business profile. However, if your social media policy is not implemented or written poorly, you could “violate your employees rights.” Working with a team like ClarityHR can help you with this.
What are the Legal Limitations a Company Can ask of Employees When it Comes to LinkedIn?
Companies can impose certain limitations on employees regarding LinkedIn usage, but these restrictions must balance protecting the company’s interests with respecting employees’ rights. Here’s an overview of legal limitations and best practices for regulating employees’ LinkedIn profiles:
Ownership of Connections on LinkedIn
To effectively manage employee LinkedIn use, businesses should create a comprehensive social media policy tailored to their needs. For example, you may want to consider defining ownership of digital platforms in your employment agreement. If the account is created for work, or used primarily for work purposes, you may want to specify your business’s expectations for use during your employment engagement, and what happens to the account and connections upon the end of the employment engagement.
- Limitation: Employers may attempt to claim ownership of LinkedIn connections made during employment, especially if those connections include clients or vendors.
- Legal Context: Courts have varied opinions on whether LinkedIn connections belong to the employee or the employer. This often depends on:
- Whether the employer required the employee to create or use the account for business purposes.
- Whether the employer provided resources or guidance for managing the account.
- Legal example: Ziegler v. Getty Images (2023): This case involved a former Getty Images employee who claimed ownership over a LinkedIn profile developed during their tenure at the company. The employee argued the profile was personal, but the employer highlighted that it was heavily used for work and created with company resources. The court’s decisions remain under scrutiny for balancing personal identity and employer branding needs
- Best Practice: Clearly outline ownership policies in employment agreements, particularly for sales, marketing, or client-facing roles.
Branding and Representation
As with any digital platform, you want to make sure that your business is represented in a unified way on all platforms and following the same brand guidelines set forth in your branding kit. If you allow your employees to use your logo in their posts and graphics, you may want to give them a brand guide for them to follow to ensure that everyone in your company is posting with the same colors, logos, and fonts.
- Limitation: Employers can require employees to maintain a professional profile that aligns with company branding if the account is used for work purposes.
- Legal Context: Employers cannot force employees to completely overhaul personal accounts. However, they can ask employees to:
- Use accurate job titles.
- Refrain from posting false or harmful statements about the company.
- Avoid using company logos or trademarks without permission.
- Best Practice: Provide guidelines for profile representation and branding in a social media policy.
Non-Disclosure of Confidential Information
Employees can be restricted from sharing sensitive company information on LinkedIn, such as trade secrets, client lists, or proprietary data. However, you need to ensure that the policies are clearly outlined in the employer agreement.
- Sasqua Group v. Courtney (2010): This case addressed whether LinkedIn contacts constituted a trade secret. The court ruled against the employer, Sasqua, finding that its client database was not sufficiently protected as proprietary information, particularly since much of the information could be gathered through public sources like LinkedIn. This case highlights that client lists may not always qualify as protectable trade secrets if they are publicly accessible
- Legal Context: Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) can extend to LinkedIn content if the information is considered confidential. However, employers must clearly define what constitutes confidential information.
- Best Practice: Train employees in what information is permissible to share online and regularly review LinkedIn activity for compliance.
Post-Termination Restrictions
- Limitation: Employers may impose restrictions on using LinkedIn for business purposes after termination, particularly regarding client solicitation.
- Legal Context: Enforcing non-compete or non-solicitation clauses via LinkedIn is a gray area and varies by jurisdiction. Some courts may rule that merely announcing a new job on LinkedIn does not constitute solicitation.
- Example: Jefferson Audio Video Sys. Inc. v. Light (W.D. Ky. May 8, 2013) demonstrates how the updating of a LinkedIn profile can become a concern for employers, particularly as it pertains to an employer’s former employees. Here is an over of the case. An employee leaves a company for whatever reason yet fails to update his or her LinkedIn profile. To anyone who views the individual’s profile or searches the company’s name, the individual appears to be a current employee.
- Best Practice: Draft reasonable non-compete and non-solicitation agreements that comply with local laws and explicitly address social media.
Personal vs. Professional LinkedIn Accounts
As a business owner it is important to decide what policies you want for your employees when using social media. For many businesses, LinkedIn can be a fabulous tool for sales and client relationships. Many professionals already have a LinkedIn account that they use for private purposes.
However, if you want them to use LinkedIn for professional reasons, you may want to consider having them create a separate professional profile. It can get sticky if you do not have a clear business policy for social media. If the two mingle, it may be more difficult to protect intellectual property, client lists and prospecting done through a personal account. Here are the legal P’s and Q’s:
- Limitation: Employers can mandate that employees create separate accounts for personal and professional use to delineate company-related activities. For instance, it is against LinkedIn’s terms and conditions to portray an account as a company and not as a person. Read more on this HERE.
- Legal Context: Employees cannot be forced to hand over personal account login details or use their personal LinkedIn profile for business unless agreed upon.
- Best Practice: Encourage employees to maintain a professional presence on LinkedIn while respecting their personal privacy.
Compliance with Labor Laws and Social Media
- Limitation: Restrictions must not violate employees’ rights under laws such as:
- National Labor Relations Act (NLRA): Employees in the U.S. have the right to discuss wages, working conditions, and employment terms.
- Ohio Labor Laws: Employees should not expect privacy on personal social media accounts if they are posting information that could be considered damaging to the company. Employers cannot use social media to discriminate against employees based on race gender or religion. Employers can act against employees for posting content that reflects poorly on the company or its clients even on posts made during personal time.
- Discrimination Laws: Policies should not single out or disproportionately affect certain groups.
- Legal Context: Overly broad restrictions may be deemed unenforceable or unlawful if they hinder employees’ protected activities. In the case of Hays vs Ions (2008)the judgement indicated that LinkedIn account even when used for a position with an employer, the account created by the employee was considered the employees personal property.
- What employees should be cautious about:
- Posting confidential company information
- Making false or defamatory statements about the company or colleagues
- Engaging in harassment or discriminatory behavior on social media
- Using company logos or branding without permission
- Best Practice: Consult legal counsel to ensure social media policies comply with local, state, and federal laws.
Small Business LinkedIn Usage and Developing Social Media Policies for Your Team.
At ClarityHR we believe that developing strong social media policies for small businesses is paramount. Strong social media policy helps maintain good communication, expectations, and best practices for both the employee and the employer. While companies can impose certain restrictions on employees’ LinkedIn profiles, those limitations must align with employment laws, privacy rights, and ethical considerations.
Clearly defined policies, open communication, and mutual respect between employers and employees can prevent disputes and ensure LinkedIn is used effectively for business and personal growth. Do not try and figure this out alone. Have the experts at ClarityHR help you develop a strong social media policy to protect your business now, and as you grow. Contact us today to get started.