Introduction

Social Media plays a significant role in many people’s lives. We know it’s an important part of the way we all connect and can be a powerful tool in connecting our community. 

This policy is to provide guidance on the use of Social Media at work and outside of work and applies to all members of the PetCloud community including Support Workers, Clients, Account Managers and Contractors. It should help you feel confident when using Social Media, whether it’s to talk about PetCloud – our services, our people and our community – or anything else. The policy forms part of PetCloud’s Standards and Procedures that you are required to comply with.

It is the responsibility of all PetCloud Support Workers, Clients, Account Managers and Contractors to familiarise themselves and comply with this policy.

Scope

The Social Media Policy applies to:

• Support Workers
• Clients
• Account Managers
• Sub-Contractors 

It applies to your use of any website or application that enables sharing of content or information, or supports social interactions. This includes Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, Vine, Flickr, Tumblr, Pinterest, LinkedIn, blogs, any instant messaging service, Yammer, TikTok, any news publication, and many more. 

This policy also applies to your use of closed forums such as private Facebook groups and public forums such as Reddit.  

All of the above are collectively referred to as “Social Media.”

Please be mindful that your behaviour is bound by this policy, as well as the PetCloud and NDIS Code of Conduct, even outside work hours and when material is posted anonymously or using an alias or pseudonym (as having an online presence means you could be traced back to PetCloud even if you do not identify as being affiliated with PetCloud).

When using Social Media you are required to comply with this policy, as well as others including our Code of Conduct and PetCloud’s Privacy Policy. 

Principles

While the PetCloud Community is encouraged to participate in Social Media, it is important to understand that when you are interacting officially or personally on Social Media you are required to follow the below principles: 

• Be respectful and professional at all times
• Be polite, fair and considerate
• Make sure your activities do not create any harm
• Do not criticise people or take any action which may bring PetCloud into disrepute
• Do not harass, bully or intimidate 
• Acknowledge and correct mistakes promptly
• Do not knowingly post inaccurate information 
• Provide links to online references and original source materials directly 
• Where possible disclose conflicts of interest 

Obtaining consent to post

If you wish to share information, including photos, about someone you work with on the PetCloud platform, you will need to obtain their consent and PetCloud’s consent to do so. For example, the following apply to the circumstances:

• If you are a client, you will need consent from your support worker to post about your support worker on Social Media 
• If you are a support worker, you will need consent from your client to share information about your client on Social Media
• Sub-contractors are prohibited from posting pictures, images or other items of their Clients, work, place of work or whilst taken when performing their work duties without PetCloud’s written permission;

Permissions 

Unless otherwise expressly agreed in writing, you do not have permission to post PetCloud content purporting to be posting with PetCloud’s authority. However, in showing your affiliation or support for PetCloud you can repost and retweet PetCloud posts and material or comments without substantially changing or altering meanings. 

Inappropriate Use

As above, you are required to at all times be guided by the Principles when using Social Media.  You will breach this policy if you engage in inappropriate use of Social Media. 

Inappropriate use of Social Media includes: 

• Using discriminatory, defamatory, abusive, intimidating or otherwise objectionable language
• Stalking, bullying, trolling or marginalising any individual or group
• Engaging in discriminatory conduct
• Engaging in deliberately argumentative conduct without reason in a manner that may bring PetCloud into disrepute
• Uploading, sharing or otherwise engaging with illegal or inappropriate content; pornographic, gambling, including extreme images of graphic content, violence, violent behaviour or information regarding firearms, bombs, terrorism activity
• Uploading confidential information regarding PetCloud or our community 
• Hacking or attempting to infiltrate systems 
• Criticising or denigrating PetCloud or anyone in our community
• Paid endorsement of any kind without express written consent from PetCloud
• Other activity that may bring PetCloud or a person’s ability to act in a professional manner into disrepute.

Policy Breach

We are all accountable for what we do on Social Media. Misuse of Social Media can have serious consequences for PetCloud and our users. 

Disciplinary action, including termination of your employment or service agreement, may be taken if this policy is breached.

Reporting and Complaints

At PetCloud, we genuinely care about the safety of our community. Everyone is responsible for notifying PetCloud of any inappropriate content, or any other breach of this policy, as soon as is reasonably practicable. 

If you are concerned about any inappropriate content on Social Media or otherwise wish to report behaviour that is in breach of this policy, please report an incident, which is monitored 24 hours a day. 

Alternatively, if you wish to make a complaint or offer feedback about us, contact PetCloud using our 24-hour online incident report form, email PetCloud at service@petcloud.com.au or phone us between 9.00am and 5pm on 1300 66 77 85.

In the case of an emergency you should call 000.

Related Policies

If you would like to access our other policies and procedures please click this link: Policies and Procedures