Employee Manual 2023 - Flipbook - Page 133
using a personal account but are representing the City. Users will view such posts as
coming from the City. Under such circumstances, what is said in the post directly reflects
on the City. Employees may discuss with their manager the circumstances in which they
are empowered to respond directly to users and when approval may be needed.
5. Retaliation for reporting violations of this policy is prohibited. The City prohibits taking
adverse action against any employee for reporting a possible deviation from this policy
or for cooperating in an investigation concerning such violations. Any employee who
retaliates against another employee for reporting a possible deviation from this policy
or for cooperating in an investigation will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and
including termination.
6. Media contacts. Employees should not speak to the media on the City’s behalf without
first contacting the city manager and receiving written permission. All media inquiries to
the City should be directed to the mayor or city manager.
7. The City reserves the right to monitor postings and content to ensure compliance with
this policy, but it will not take any action against employees who lawfully exercise their
Section 7 rights. Further, in accordance with Michigan's internet Privacy Protection Act,
the City will not (1) request access to pages of an employee's private internet account
that are not visible to the public, (2) request passwords to enable it to access private
pages (including sending a friend request), or (3) discipline any employee who
refuses/fails to provide such access or passwords.
C. Responsibilities
a. Employee responsibilities
• Monitor personal use of the internet, messaging, and other applications, to ensure
that the City is being appropriately served;
• Adhere to City standards as discussed in the policy language above;
• Read and adhere to relevant policies;
• Obtain authorization from their supervisor before incurring charges (ex.
downloading data or accessing a paid service); and
• Obtain authorization to download and install additional software.
b. Management Responsibilities
• Support enterprise-grade technology to enforce this policy, to ensure that the
primary purpose of that use is to meet City business needs, and that relevant City
standards are met; and
• Review and make decisions regarding the approval of all non-work related
broadcast announcements. Acceptable uses for non-work related broadcast
announcements would include arrival or departure of a department employee or a
departmental charitable campaign event.
D. Policy Enforcement
In order to safeguard City resources, violators of this policy may be denied access to City
computing and network resources and may be subject to other disciplinary action within and
outside the City. Violations of this policy will be handled in accordance with the City’s
established disciplinary procedures. The City may temporarily suspend, block or restrict access
City of Plymouth Employee manual - Page 133 – March 2023
