New team member problem with SM & appearing on the internet

[SanJayH]

I have a new member of my team who’s just started at the company. She flew through the interview and I think she’s going to be great at her job. We were completing the induction process by having pictures taken for her work badge and her profile on the website, but she suddenly announced that she couldn’t appear on any kind of social media or our website due to ‘personal reasons’.

I totally respect she is entitled to her privacy but we work in an industry which it’s kind of expected to appear on various social media platforms and on checking with HR I was informed it’s company policy to appear with a picture and profile on our website.

I’m a bit stuck as to how best proceed so I wondered if anyone else had experience of this?

She might have escaped domestic violence or witness to a crime. She has a right to privacy.

If it’s that crucial to the company/role to have your face online, you had a responsibility to disclose that to applicants during the interview process and then they could have made the call to accept the job

Since it sounds like you didn’t then you can’t force it for all the legitimate reasons mentioned on this thread

Then as a manager, you tell them it's none of their business and to wind their necks in.

Depends whether it was in her contract really. Because if it was... well. She should have read it better.
And if it wasn't .. well. You can't force her

My first thought - as for most other PPs - is that she or a close family member eg a child or sibling needs to be protected from an abusive person.

But ...

It is anybody's right not to be on social media. If that is a condition of employment in your workplace, that should have been made clear in the job specifications and/or person specs.

Definitely. We have to sign a consent form to have photo used and if you want to refuse you don’t have to give a reason why .

So you need to deal with the bullying culture not her reasonable decline

Is she a good hire? Will she be good at her job?

Time to review your SM policies.

Sounds am absolutely delightful place to work... 🤨

I wish I'd refused to allow my photo to be used on the website of a company I worked for back in the 90s. It's a terrible photo, proper ugly, and although it's no longer on the live website it still appears on the first page of results from an internet search on my name.

I keep my social media accounts very private and never post personal photos. It bugs me that that old work photo is out there in the public domain.

Please don’t ask her. Respect her privacy.

Just give her an avatar and use initials.

I have a colleague who has a picture of her on a horse but the picture is taken from behind and there's a beautiful landscape - it sums up she's a very outdoorsy personality. There are other ways to bring yourself to SM without bringing a profile picture.

For your team I would say.- they are free to do the same.

But I would the question back to the candidate that this is likely to come up, you'll support her, but what would you like her to tell people?

Sorry I phrased that wrong- what would she like YOU to tell people, if the question crops up?

And when she gives you an answer, that's the one you go with and that's how your shut your team down.

The reason is X and they'll be no more discussion.

I really don’t think that should be put on her. OP and the management people should just be telling people it’s none of their business. It’s not up to the new starter, who may have a traumatic history, to come up with a story to tell colleagues she hasn’t even met yet.

Those people need to be shut down. It’s absolutely unacceptable and so unprofessional to be questioning and judgmental like this.

Your company can't force anyone to consent to use of their image on company SM. She has the right to privacy.

Someone at HR needs to look up the law here.

I was in a situation where it would be dangerous for me to have my details published online. I told HR and not only did they respect that, they also installed CCTV at my workplace to keep me safe. They were great.

Sorry, couldn't be arsed to read this. Just so boring.

This situation is far more likely to apply to a woman than a man, so I think you also need to be very careful about indirect discrimination.

I think the "big personalities" need to be clearly told it is none of their business and to be sensitive to this.

Unfortunately, a lot of people, even those who should know better, don't think about internet safety in this way. At an event, once, a picture of me was put up on social media with my full name without discussion. Because of the nature of the event, it was then clear the rough area where I lived. And actually the first I knew of it was a friend from uni messaging me (a nice message) about it.

I did suggest to the event organisers they ask first and why. At the time, they thought because it was a positive post, it wouldn't be a problem.

I’m just concerned now as it make cause friction within the team as there are some big and opinionated personalities

Then management need to manage them, by "big and opinionated personalities" and from your concerns I presume loud, obnoxious, judgemental pain in the asses- I'm sure everyone else that works there would be pleased if they're not able to just spread judgment and be irritating. You shouldn't have to make reasonable decisions and be worrying about their reactions.

For every perspective employee that likes this approach I'm sure there are several that run very quickly in the other direction.

If it’s in her contract, if she can clearly see this is how you operate (with a significant sm presence) if I were her I wouldn’t have applied personally.

You can ask Google to remove it from the searches

Ask her. It could be for a very servious reason.

My niece has a dangerous stalker taking a liking to her.
They follow her to work, phone her work, threaten to kill her boyfriend - really terrifying and the Police took out a restraining order as they knew of the stalker's past and accompany my niece from work to her bus each day.

It is often a necessary path - to retreat from all social media.
This nut has broken the restraining order time and time again and because of mental illness doesn't understand to keep away. Nothing can be done until he makes a violent move.
It would be negative for your business to have a stalker, for example.

Big personalities! Pffft! They need to be told to mind their own business.