Acc Student

Human Resources Management in Canada
Case Incident
A New HR Professional’s First Workplace Dilemma

Case Study Questions:

1. Do you agree with how Laura handles this situation? If so, why? If not, what would you have done differently?

2. Is it important for this company to have such a policy in place? If so, how can the employment (labour) standards act in your province/ territory help in drafting a policy on appropriate computer use?

I believe it is important for this company to have such a policy in place because of an inappropriate picture of a woman visible on a co-worker computer. As it is common working at any company, the company expects its employees to maintain a high standard of conduct and work performance to make sure the company maintains its good reputation with consumers and the suppliers. Laura the human resources coordinator should help drafting a policy on appropriate computer use.

Laura can address the issue by setting the computer usages policy this involves all employees: * Internet Use Policy: * The internet is provided by the company for formal use. Limited private use is permitted if the private use does not interfere with other co-workers and that inappropriate sites are not accessed or pictures. Management has the right to access the system to check if private use is extreme or inappropriate. * Email Policy: * Emails accommodated are provided for formal company communication * Take care to maintain the privacy of delicate information. If emails need to be preserved, they should be backed up and stored offsite. * Limited private use of email is allowed if it doesn’t interfere with or distract from an employee’s work. However, management has the right to access incoming and outgoing email messages to check if an employee’s usage or involvement is excessive or inappropriate. * Non-essential email, including personal messages, should be deleted regularly from the ‘Sent Items’, ‘Inbox’ and ‘Deleted Items’ folders to avoid blocking. * All emails sent must include the approved qualification.

* Social Media Policy:
The company expects its employees to maintain a certain standard of behavior when using Social Media for work or personal purposes. * Maintaining a profile page for formal on any social networking sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace or Twitter etc. * Making comments on such networking sites for and on behalf of the company; * Writing or contributing to a blog or commenting on other’s employees blog posts for and on behalf of the company * Posting comments for and on behalf of the company on any public or private web-based forums, message boards and other internet sites.

With all this manual policy on appropriate computer use it can limited to a positive working environment and making it easier for Laura to handle the situation.