Setting a Policy for Blogs Protect your company's good name in employees' blogs.

Blogging has recently been causing all kinds of ruckus in the business world. These online journals are far from a harmless pastime--employees from companies including Delta and Google have reportedly been fired for transgressions such as disclosing information about their pay and benefits packages in their personal blogs. How can you protect yourself from negative publicity and employee litigation stemming from blogs?

"We spend so much time at work that the line between work and personal life becomes blurred," says David Micah Kaufman, HR expert and co-author with attorney Deborah Weinsteinof the forth-coming book Blogs@Work. He believes it's necessary to establish an official policy on blogging for your employees. Any policy should prohibit disclosing confidential company information and/or trade secrets. It should also set guidelines about disparaging clients or co-workers, which could be considered harassment.