In the age of iPhones, BlackBerries, and similar devices, text messaging is becoming as ubiquitous in the workplace as it is everywhere else. But as an employer, are you at risk of dropping the ball on essential recordkeeping because vital communications are transmitted on phones — often personal phones that don’t belong to the company?
Records That Shouldn’t Be Texted
Given that many text messages contain fewer than 50 characters, it’s hard to think of texted communications as “records” of any kind, let alone employment records. But records need not be a certain length to constitute employment records. Consider the following examples:
Employee: “Will be 20 mins late today”
Manager: “OK”
Employee: “My doctor says I can’t come back to work for two more weeks”
Manager: “Make sure you fax in a note from your doctor”
Employee: “Estimating my team needs 2 hours each of overtime to finish today”
Manager: “Approved”
Supervisor: “You look really hot in that dress”
Employee: “I love it when you say that”
Even in this digital age, you have a number of old-school posting and notice requirements you’re required to follow. Keep track of everything with our Employment Notice Handbook — specifically for California employers.
In each of these examples, vital work-related information is communicated. Some of it must be kept as part of the company’s legal recordkeeping duties (such as information about approved tardiness or authorized overtime), while other information could be critical when defending a lawsuit (such as requests for medical certification or evidence that alleged harassment was really mutual banter).
Text Messaging Best Practices
Text messaging in the workplace is likely here to stay, used by everyone from the company president to building maintenance personnel. Banning text message use to communicate about work matters is most likely unrealistic.
A better approach is to create — and enforce — a policy that clearly sets out the kinds of communications that must be made in a manner other than a text message. For example, any communications regarding pay or hours worked, attendance, or medical- or disability-related leaves or absences should be made through email or by a written document.
Your company’s antibias and antiharassment policies should also be updated to make clear that discriminatory or harassing comments made through text message or any other electronic means are prohibited, will not be tolerated, and can lead to discipline up to and including termination.
Fully updated links to 35 required state and federal posters — no more wasting time on convoluted web searches.
If your company uses text messaging technology on a regular basis, consider providing employees with company-purchased devices that are on a company service plan. This ensures that you will have access to records of text messages sent and received through the carrier.
If you do so, you must also update your computer use policy to give employees clear notice that all communications sent or received on company-owned devices are company property and should not be considered private.
Tomorrow: Could you be setting yourself up for “Twitter trouble”?
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