Known by the Company You Keep

• Mar 11, 2023
• By BBN News Desk

BY CINDY WILLIAMS Do you know what your credit union employees are posting on social media during their personal time? What they are sharing could directly reflect back on your CU, so making your expectations on digital behavior clear is critical. Keep reading for advice on how to achieve such clarity. The pitfalls and perks of participating in online conversations are something credit unions have bandied about for nearly a decade ? probably longer in some of the more tech-savvy circles of the movement. Today, there is no shortage of information and advice regarding a credit union?s use of blogs, social media, consumer reviews and other, still-emerging, digital communities. Less information is available, however, about individual credit union employees? participation in these communities ? especially during off hours. In this day and age, many credit union leaders may be wondering how an employee?s personal use of these tools affects the credit union. And who is watching to see how representatives of the cooperative behave online? Members? Business leaders? Law enforcement? What about examiners? In March of this year, a credit union mortgage loan services officer was fired for comments she made on her personal Facebook page. Although the comments, which included a racial slur, were not posted on the credit union?s Facebook page nor during her work hours, the credit union understood the ramifications. Beyond impacting the cooperative?s reputation in the community, one has to wonder, did leadership consider the potential regulatory consequences? My mother always reminded me: You?re known by the company you keep. Might an employee?s actions on a personal social media page shine a spotlight on a credit union?s fair lending practices, especially if that employee holds a lending position? It?s not hard to imagine an examiner determining the employee?s actions call for a targeted review of the credit union?s lending activities. There would certainly be questions: Did this person apply her personal beliefs to lending decisions? Did she set a tone of unfair or discriminatory practices followed by others who either held the same beliefs or were intimidated into doing so by the commenter? You may wonder if credit unions are allowed to dismiss an employee for something he or she says ? either online or in ?the real world.? What about the Constitutional right to free speech? Although a credit union may�choose�to hold itself to the same standards as the U.S. government, it is not�required�to protect an individual?s right to free speech or expression at work. So an individual who had been let go for online comments might have a hard time trying to argue in a court of law that his or her First Amendment rights had been violated. The best protection is clarity. In other words, get your credit union?s expectations of employees? digital behavior down on paper, in black and white. Gather key leaders and board members together to determine which restrictions make the most sense for your credit union to place on employees? participation in online conversations and other activities. Run those restrictions by legal counsel to be sure you aren?t sideways with any laws or HR concerns. Be sure those restrictions clearly state that the expectations apply to both credit union?owned and personal pages. Then set strategy for how employees? online behavior will be monitored. Document your decisions in a formal written policy with associated written procedures. Treat them as you would any other policy or procedure, with annual reviews and updates as needed. Share them with managers and require training for each of the credit union?s employees at least once each year and as new employees join the team. As the digital world evolves, so too do the trends, temptations and traps facing each of us, making consistent evaluation of online behavior policies paramount. Cindy Williams is vice president of regulatory compliance for PolicyWorks, a national leader of credit union compliance solutions. She can be reached at cindyw@policyworksllc.com.

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