Social media to be banned for state employees while working
COLUMBIA, S.C. Don’t plan on using Facebook while on your state job.
Using social media will be banned, starting in July, when state workers will be subject to a new code of conduct.
The rules – which cover far more than social media – are intended to instill public confidence in state government.
The code of conduct will:
The code of conduct does not lay out penalties for violations.
Republican Gov. Nikki Haley told her cabinet Friday that state employees involved in purchasing, for example, also should not “be wined and dined or accept any gifts whatsoever.”
Haley noted the code of conduct comes as ethics reform for legislators is being debated.
“It’s not just legislators,” she said. “It’s not just elected officials. It’s everybody. ...
“If a public servant has to make a decision on whether something is right or wrong, then our code-of-conduct policy isn’t working,” she added.
Haley said each agency will be able to adjust the new code of conduct for its employees.
In some cases, accepting gifts – otherwise frowned upon – is OK, Haley said.
For example, when the state and S.C. Department of Commerce was recruiting Giti Tire, that company’s executives always would bring gifts to meetings, Haley said.
“For us to turn the gifts back would have been offensive,” Haley said. “We also had to give gifts because that was part of the” custom.
Haley said the way to deal with those instances is to be transparent. “When a public servant knows that it will be seen, then they have a conscience to do the right thing.”
Haley has been criticized for her lack of transparency in the the past – for example, not disclosing almost $50,000 that she was paid in consulting fees by an engineering firm that did business with the state. A House committee cleared her of allegations that she used her office for personal gain.
This story was originally published January 23, 2015 at 2:47 PM with the headline "Social media to be banned for state employees while working."