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It’s never been easier to have a public voice. Your people are online, sharing ideas, building followings, posting thoughts about their work and their world. It’s how we all connect now, and often, it’s great for your brand. Authentic voices build credibility, culture and trust.
But there’s a fine line between personal expression and professional responsibility. When someone’s personal activity starts to touch the workplace, or the brand behind it, that line can blur quickly. For employers, it raises a familiar question: when does an employee’s online presence or side-hustle stop being personal and start creating organisational brand risk?
In a world where everyone has a platform, your people are part of your brand story, whether you planned it or not. Their voices carry weight. That’s both the opportunity and the risk of the digital landscape.
Whether it’s a weekend post that stirs debate, a growing influencer profile, or a ‘thought leadership’ opinion on LinkedIn, public content can easily cross into brand, privacy or compliance territory. The goal isn’t to control what people do outside work, it's to make the boundaries clear, so everyone understands where personal freedom ends and professional responsibility begins. A well-crafted social media policy plays a key role here, outlining expectations for online behaviour to mitigate off-duty conduct issues.
Why Businesses Need a Social Media Policy Now More Than Ever
In 2025, the line between personal life and professional identity has never been thinner. Personal brands, hybrid work and the rise of online influence mean the two worlds now blend in ways few workplaces ever imagined.
At HumanX, we know that it’s not about policing people’s private lives, it’s about creating clarity. It’s about helping leaders and employees understand when personal activity outside work can start to affect reputation, culture or compliance, and how to navigate that overlap fairly. This is exactly why a business should have a social media policy. To protect both the organisation and its people from unintended consequences.
A single post can do more than someone realises. A weekend opinion shared on social media might pull an employer into public debate. A photo from a side hustle can spark questions about conflict of interest. Even a well-intentioned video can lead to privacy or compliance concerns.
We’re seeing this play out in real life. In recent years, the Fair Work Commission has dealt with several cases where off-duty conduct on social media affected employment. For instance.
- Corry v Australian Council of Trade Unions [2022]: An employee was dismissed for posts including anti-vaccine content and vilification that drew his employer into political and social debates, conflicting with the organisation's values.
- Ventia Australia Pty Ltd v Pelly [2023]: saw a worker reinstated after offensive posts in a private group were judged embarrassing but lacking sufficient connection to work to justify dismissal.
These aren’t just ‘social media problems’. They are questions about fairness, freedom and where the workplace ends.
In Australia, there’s no single law that regulates what employees can say or do online outside of work. But over time, Fair Work decisions have drawn clear boundaries. Employers can act when off-duty conduct has a real connection to the job, for example, if it damages the organisation's reputation, breaches confidentiality, or undermines trust in the employment relationship.
Those connections can form quickly online. A personal post that identifies an employer, reveals client details, or conflicts with a company’s stated values can fall within scope. The key is knowing when that connection exists, and when it doesn’t.
The Legal Perspective of Off-duty Conduct
When it comes to off-duty conduct, the law doesn’t draw a hard line at 5pm. If someone’s behaviour outside work damages trust, safety, or reputation, there may be grounds for an employer to act. That principle comes from a long-standing case, Rose v Telstra, which still guides decisions today.
The takeaway is simple: connection matters. If there’s no real link between what happened and the person’s job, stepping into their private life can be overreaching. But when that link exists, when the conduct undermines the organisation’s values, safety or credibility, employers have a clearer footing to respond.
Privacy and consumer laws add another layer. For most employers, the biggest risk isn’t what’s said at work, it’s what happens off the clock. Personal views shared publicly, influencer partnerships that compete with your brand, or posts that identify the workplace can all carry reputational and compliance implications, amplifying brand risk. That’s why it helps to set expectations before issues arise, not after.
- Under the Privacy Act 1988, personal information like names, images and any details that could identify a client, colleague or customer are protected.
- ACCC’s influencer guidelines require anyone promoting products or brands, even casually, to disclose sponsorships. In the age of personal branding, these rules can apply to employees too.
In practice, the grey areas are where most business owners and leaders get stuck. A team member grows a following and starts accepting sponsorships. Another shares strong personal views online that are linked back to their employer. Someone posts a weekend photo wearing company gear. A seemingly harmless ‘day in the life’ story reveals a client site in the background.
These moments aren’t usually acts of defiance, they’re moments of misunderstanding, and they remind us that clarity beats control every time. The lesson for employers is simple: prevention beats reaction. Having clear, up-to-date policies and regular discussions about social media, side hustles, and external activity helps avoid confusion and conflict later. If conflicts do arise, our Workplace Disputes and Workplace Investigations expertise can guide fair resolutions.
Social Media Policy is about boundaries, not control
The goal isn’t to restrict people’s freedom. It's to create shared understanding about what’s okay and what’s not.
But what is a social media policy? It's a set of guidelines that define acceptable online behaviour, both during and outside work hours, to safeguard the company's interests while respecting personal expression. A simple, well-written social media policy and conduct policy can help people navigate grey areas. It doesn’t have to be lengthy or full of legal language, just clear enough that everyone knows where personal expression ends and professional responsibility begins.
Encourage openness. If employees are building a public profile or working on side projects that could overlap with their role, make disclosure easy and non-punitive. People appreciate boundaries when they’re communicated early and fairly. This approach aligns with effective Performance Management strategies.
Keep privacy top of mind by reinforcing privacy basics often. Remind teams not to share or film client, customer or colleague information without consent, and to think before tagging, posting or recording at work. Never share client or colleague details without consent, don’t post in restricted areas, and think before tagging or filming at work.
And when something does go wrong, keep your response fair and proportionate. Investigate the facts, consider intent and impact, and act consistently with past practice. Overreacting can be just as damaging as doing nothing. For complex situations involving potential Terminations, our team can provide compliant advice.
Finding the Balance
The reality is, people’s personal lives and professional reputations now sit side by side. What someone posts or promotes outside of work can still shape how your organisation is seen. The balance isn’t about control. It’s about boundaries.
Set expectations early. Be clear about what connection to work looks like, and where personal activity might start creating brand risk or compliance risk. Your people don’t need restrictions; they need reference points.
When leaders and business owners frame it that way, they protect both sides, the individual’s freedom and the organisation's integrity. Building this into your broader Workplace Culture fosters trust and reduces risks.
Achieving Clarity in a Digital World: How HumanX Can Support You
Off-duty conduct isn’t new, but the digital footprint is. Employers who handle this well don’t overreact, they prepare. They know what ‘connection to work’ means in their context, communicate it clearly, and act consistently when lines are crossed.
At HumanX, we help organisations get that clarity right. If you want to make sure your organisation is prepared for the realities of online influence and off-duty conduct, book a conversation with our team at HumanX. Explore our HR Consulting services to develop a tailored social media policy that fits your needs.
