Domino’s employees fired, charged after “gross” video goes viral

On Monday, two Domino's Pizza employees posted videos on the Internet that resulted in their current unemployment, and also managed to create a disastrous PR storm for their former employer.

The two Domino's Pizza employees posted videos on the Internet showing themselves violating various health-code standards while preparing food for delivery. Since their video became a hit on YouTube, the employees have been charged with felonies for delivering prohibited foods.

A statement on the company’s corporate website apologizes for the unacceptable actions of their former employees and asks that customers continue their support, despite this embarrassment.

“The opportunities and freedom of the Internet is wonderful,” the statement reads. “But it also comes with the risk of anyone with a camera and an Internet link to cause a lot of damage, as in this case, where a couple of individuals suddenly overshadow the hard work performed by the 125,000 men and women working for Domino’s across the nation and in 60 countries around the world.” (Workforce Management)

Company President Patrick Doyle has also posted a video of his own in response to the “gross” video created by his former employees. Domino’s spokesman Tim McIntyre said the company is looking into what can be done to prevent anything like this from happening in the future, but says there’s only so much the Domino’s can do.

"You can be the safest driver, you know," McIntyre said. "But there's going to be that Friday night someone's drunk and comes from out of nowhere. You can do the best you can, but there's going to be the equivalent of that drunk driver that hits the innocent victim." (Advertising Age)

The food safety issues involved in this case can be kept under control with a combination of training, policy enforcement and complying with regular food safety inspections. But how can a company control what employees are saying about them online?

It’s impossible for a company to fully control what an employee is going to say or do on the Internet in regards to their employer. What companies can do is set standards and clear policies outlining responsible online behavior within the office and when an employee discusses the company on their own time.

Major companies including the BBC, Sun Microsystems and IBM have written social media guidelines for employees to help manage the risk that accompanies these online conversations. Each of these companies has a set of guidelines clearly posted on its website and serve as great examples when developing your own social media policies.

• BBC use of social networking and other third party websites (.pdf)
• Sun Guidelines on Public Disclosure
• IBM Social Computing Guidelines

Policies will differ from company to company, but it’s important to have a clear set of standards that everyone in the organization can follow. Remember to run your social media policy through the legal department before distributing anything to employees. Finish the process with employee training that explains the company’s policy and how to act responsibly when talking about their employer online.

Like Domino’s spokesman said, “the opportunities and freedom of the Internet is wonderful,” but some employees may need help understanding the responsibility that comes along with talking about their employer online.

Do you think having a social media policy could have helped Domino's in the company's current situation? Does your organization train employees on responsible Internet use? Leave a comment and let us know.

Domino’s employees fired, charged after “gross” video goes viral

MySpace and hiring: Convenient, but risky

Tempted to use MySpace or Facebook to do a little research on a potential job candidate? You may want to think twice.

Some experts advise using extreme caution when using social networking sites to learn background information on a candidate. Others recommend staying away from the sites completely.

On anyone’s MySpace profile you can usually find out that person’s gender, relationship status, sexual preference, home town, age, religion and how many children they have. The problem is that all of these topics should be off-limits during the interview process.

Making a hiring decision based on any of the topics just mentioned would be considered discriminatory and could potentially land your company in some legal hot water.

The California Labor & Employment Defense Blog has a full run down of legal issues to be aware of when using the Internet to research job candidates and current employees. Here’s a summary of just a few:

Invasion of privacy. Some social networking state in their terms of service agreements that it is unlawful to use profile information for employment decisions.

State protected privacy. California and New York currently have statutes prohibiting employers from interfering with employees’ private lives outside of work.

Discrimination. Even if an employer came across the information unintentionally, it is unlawful to deny employment based on protected topics such as age and gender.

Take a look at the full post for a complete overview.

MySpace and hiring: Convenient, but risky

March Madness Counterpoint: Team building

In order to keep the game fair, we must look at the counterpoint to a post from last week regarding how awful the March Madness basketball tournament is for employee productivity. Within reason, March Madness may actually benefit an office.

It’s important that employees work in enjoyable work environments. Office pools, and all the “my team is better” conversations can help build positive work relationships. As long as it doesn’t get too much in the way of work, you may just want to let March Madness run it’s course.

In a Workforce Management post this week, the author claims productivity lost to March Madness is just another urban legend.

“All of this talk about lost productivity because of March Madness is nonsense. I haven’t seen any credible research that supports the premise, and the ‘data’ that is used to make the point is soft and suspect.”

After covering the same topic last year, readers wrote to the author telling him that March Madness boosted employee bonding and office morale.

“There is no more evidence of workplace productivity losses because of March Madness than there is evidence of alligators in the sewers, Elvis living with aliens, or the Loch Ness Monster. I like fairy tales, but March Madness as a workplace problem is ridiculous.”

March Madness Counterpoint: Team building

Internet monitoring "Madness"

March 16 is Selection Sunday for the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament. You may be wondering what is this post doing on a blog for HR topics? There’s good reason, keep reading ...

This year CBS has made it easier than ever for your employees to watch games from the comfort of their desk chairs. If you’re the owner of a small or midsized company, you should be concerned with more than just employees slacking off. When a large number of employees are streaming live video of the basketball games, they will slow or even crash your computer networks.

Starting next Tuesday, all but one of the 63 tournament games will be available online for the first time. First-round games fall on Thursday and Friday during business hours. CBS is setting up links to the games from more than 200 websites, including ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports and Facebook.

We all trust that employees will remember to record the games on their TiVos and hold back from watching basketball at work. But, if you’re worried about high bandwith use and low employee productivity, maybe it’s time to invest in filtering technology for your network.

We would like to hear your feedback on this present and growing workplace issue regarding employee internet monitoring and filtering.

What’s your opinion on internet filtering at work? How does your company handle inappropriate internet use by employees?

Internet monitoring "Madness"