The holiday season is here! Carol-singers are knocking at doors and the smell of mince pies is drifting through many a household.

Perhaps you’ve been well behaved this year, and are hoping to receive a new tablet or smartphone? If so, you would be wise to read on as I have selected a few resources relating to the acceptable use of social media in the workplace, and how it can affect you!

Shoosmiths have put together some information helpfully outlining the acceptable use of social media in relation to employment:

http://www.shoosmiths.co.uk/client-resources/legal-updates/employment-aspects-of-social-media-4188.aspx 

Perhaps you could try contrasting it to a similar, but older report from Jones Day to see if you can spot any differences? Social media is a fast moving subject:

http://www.jonesday.com/facebook_twitter

For a more global perspective, Baker & McKenzie have approached social media from an employment perspective relating to 17 different countries, ranging from Argentina to the United States:

http://www.bakermckenzie.com/files/Publication/fbb96048-99a8-49f0-9d4f-f612e0bec1c0/Presentation/PublicationAttachment/2ee3b2aa-40e1-4612-93b8-03b7ee1feddb/bk_employment_globalemployersocialmedia_sep12.pdf

Of course, if your foray into social media does go wrong, you can always try apologising! The UK Director of Public Prosecutions has today tried to make the situation regarding offensive and criminal remarks via Twitter a bit clearer for those of us in England and Wales:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20777002

Once you are up to speed with acceptable social media policy, why not try out a new app? The Copyright Licensing Agency in the UK has launched a new app that allows users to quickly check if they are allowed to make copies of a text or journal! Encouraging lawyers and students to install the app may be a great way to ensure copyright compliance:

http://www.cla.co.uk/about/news/article/?article_id=159&subject=CLA+launches+new+mobile+app

Once you return to the office in the New Year, you may feel like your IT structure doesn’t quite match up to the likes of Android’s Jelly Bean or iOS 6. If this is the case, it might be worth having a look at this video by Linklaters on upgrading law firm software:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx6WFiVCdNg

That’s it for this update – if you would like to contribute anything to the next email update, please let me know. I’d love to hear from you.

Seasons Greetings,

Sam Wiggins
SLA Legal Division Ethics Ambassador