Web use & Social sites

[Nomad]

There are two separate policies to consider and discuss.

POLICIES FOR OUR PEOPLE 5.7

ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS

OUR APPROACH

We want to provide our employees with the tools to communicate with each other and our suppliers, as well as providing them access to up-to-date information which will assist them in their jobs.

All employees have a duty not to bring the company into disrepute, and so all employees should be careful that their electronic communications do not have this consequence.

What do we define as electronic communications?

Email, internet usage (including internet access from work or home computers, hand held devices or internet enabled mobile phones), extranet (Tesco Information Exchange), intranet, host, Sharepoint, faxes and phones and text.

OUR POLICY

* The systems provided by Tesco are provided as business tools.
* Line Managers are responsible for determining what is reasonable and valid, in terms of the use of
   electronic communications systems in their area.
* Tesco reserves the right to review, audit and disclose all matters sent over the systems or placed in their       
   storage. This monitoring may take place at any time, with or without notice and at the Company's   
   discretion.
* If monitoring reveals misuse of these systems, the employee concerned could be liable to disciplinary action
   for misconduct or gross misconduct.
* Any information posted by an employee on a public internet site such as You Tube, My Space or on a
   personal Blog, which refers to Tesco or which can be identified as pertaining to Tesco, is prohibited, without
   the express permission of the employee's work level 4 Director.

Misconduct

* This is where an employee accesses the internet or uses other equipment in a manner which is
   inconsistent with their job responsibilities, and is not authorised by their Manager.
* This includes, but is not limited to, extensive personal use or circulation of non business related material,
   such as email/text jokes or circulars.

Gross Misconduct

This includes creating, accessing, transmission processing and/or passing on of any material which could potentially result in an operational or reputational risk to Tesco. Examples of this include (but are not limited to):

* Accessing and/or circulating pornographic, racist or other derogatory or sexually explicit material. Such
   materials are offensive and may be construed as sources of harassment or discrimination.
* Information that could be related to drug trafficking or terrorism which could damage the reputation of
   Tesco.
* Hacking, which may, in some circumstances, be considered a criminal offence under the Computer Misuse
   Act 1990.
* Harassment by email/text. Harassment is any unwanted, unreasonable or offensive behaviour which
   isolates another person's dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive
   environment for that person.
* Tampering with voicemail/phone messages/email.
* Disclosing confidential Company information using either personal equipment or that provided by the
   Company.
* Posting information about Tesco or Tesco employees including film and/or photographs, on a public internet
   site such as You Tube, My Space, or a personal blog, whether during or after working hours, at work or at
   home.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

* When an employee accesses a web site through the internet, that website will record their user ID. This
   causes the name "Tesco" to be recorded on the site. Therefore every internet user must consider whether
   the Company would be prepared to have the name "Tesco" associated with the content of that site.

* Employees should be cautious when opening emails, attachments etc if they do not recognise the source.
   They may contain a virus which could corrupt all of the information held on the employee's system.

* Content of all internal communications (emails, hosts, memos etc.) are intended for internal use only and
   are not for distribution outside Tesco, unless for legitimate business reasons.

* Line Managers are responsible for determining the scope of electronic system usage that represents a
   reasonable and valid business use for the users in their area.

* Individual users have a responsibility to agree with their Managers the limits of acceptable usage and then
   to operate within these limits.

* Employees should never disclose their passwords to others. Employees will be held responsible for all
   activity that occurs under their user ID.

* In order to protect the integrity and functioning of the Tesco network, employees are specifically prohibited
   from adding any modems or other communication equipment to Tesco owned machines or to the Tesco
   network. Should any employee require such equipment they must obtain authorisation from their IT
   business representative.

* Should an employee want to film on Tesco property (including film on mobile phones or digital cameras),
   they should obtain permission from their Store/Depot Manager or Work Level 3 Manager.


POLICIES FOR OUR PEOPLE 5.13

INTERNET USE AND SOCIAL NETWORKING

OUR APPROACH

We recognise that employees may want to use social networking sites such as Facebook, My Space and You Tube in their personal time, both in and outside work. These sites can be a great way to keep in touch with friends and colleagues. Chatting directly to friends is, of course, acceptable but employees have to realise that chatting on a forum which is open to others has wider ramifications as others can be affected by the comments that are made.

All employees have a duty not to make online comments that could bring the Company into disrepute, or may create a negative image of the Company, suppliers or customers, and so all employees should act responsibly to ensure that their electronic communications could not have this consequence. All employees also have a duty to make sure that their electronic communications do not cause any actual or likely harm to colleagues.

Employees must be aware that any information posted onto the internet (which includes any social networking sites) where others have access, is public and therefore may be viewed by colleagues, customers and the press. Once posted, it is not then possible to say it was not meant, or that it was a private comment and not intended for onward distribution or publication. Employees should not work on the premise that the post is private.

OUR POLICY

If it is brought to the company's attention that information, images or comments that could be viewed as inappropriate, offensive or embarrassing to the Company, customers, suppliers, or an employee, have been posted onto the internet (including any social networking sites), whether during or after working hours, at work or at home, then the allegation will be investigated. The fact that the act takes place while an employee is not physically at work does not mean that the employee is not liable for that act. If it affects the employee's job (in the broadest possible sense) or their working environment or that of others in the Company, then the Company will take action where the employee has failed to conform to the appropriate standards of behaviour.

Depending on the severity of the incident it may constitute misconduct or gross misconduct resulting in disciplinary action being taken, up to and including dismissal.

Employees who have access to the internet as a business tool will also need to follow the Group Information Policies 'Internet Usage Policy' and 'Using Social Media' in addition to this policy.

Guidance on responsible use of social networking sites, internet forums, blogging and posting information onto the internet:

Employees should be aware that they are responsible for any comments or postings made on the internet. It is reasonable for the Company to assume (in the absence of any evidence that an employee's account has been hacked), that any comments made in the name of the employee were made by that employee.

When using internet sites we expect employees to adhere to the following:

* Employees should make it clear that any blog post is the personal comment of the individual and does not
   represent the comment or view of Tesco or any other Tesco employee or anyone associated with Tesco.

* Employees must not post information or make comments that could bring Tesco into disrepute, or is
   derogatory or disrespectful of Tesco, of its suppliers or of its employees or anyone associated with Tesco.
   Comments should not be speculative or have an actual or likely negative impact on the Company's brand
   image or reputation or cause embarrassment to Tesco, our employees, or customers, or be intended to do
   the same, or posted without due regard to the potential for harm or hurt to be caused.

* Whilst it is recognised that Tesco is a large company and comments on a social networking site may not
   cause the Company any financial loss, it is the act of posting something that is not in the best interests of
   Tesco, that is the offense. This could constitute an act of misconduct, or gross misconduct, or a breach of
   the implied duty of trust and confidence.

* Examples of unacceptable comments or postings are creating, accessing or circulating any material which:

- Could potentially result in an operational or reputational risk to the Company or anyone associated with
  Tesco;
- Contains profanity, obscenities, derogatory or abusive remarks;
- Could be viewed as containing discriminatory material, whether on the grounds of race, sex, sexual
  orientation, disability, age, nationality, religion, belief, pregnancy or gender reassignment;
- Contains nudity or images of a sexual nature, which could cause offense;
- Could be construed as libellous by the person about whom the comment is made;
- May have the effect of creating an intimidating or hostile environment for others with whom the employee
  works;
- Could lead to allegations of bullying or harassment, even if this is not on the grounds of someone's
  protected characteristic(ie sex, race, disibility etc) and even if the person about whom the comment is made
  has not seen the comment;
- Discloses confidential information or information which is not readily available to those outside of Tesco or
  the area in which the employee works. This would include any information that is given in confidence by
  suppliers or others or which it is reasonable for the Company to consider as confidential.

* The policy does not mean that employees can never talk about their job, however, before posting
   comments employees should carefully consider whether any information posted is appropriate for their
   colleagues, managers or customers to read.

* Employees must not access any social networking sites or make any comments on the internet during
   working hours. Personal use should be limited to breaks and lunch time.

* Employees should not make comments about customers or colleagues which could cause offence, even
   where names are not mentioned.

* Employees should not use any recognisable Logos, signs, photographs or pictures in their postings.

* Employees should be aware that they are personally liable for any comments, images or information that
   they post and that action may be taken against them by a third party, such as a customer or colleague.

* Employees should ensure that information posted is not sensitive or valuable to our competitors, for
   example, providing advance notice of promotions, pricing or trade driving events. Doing so could have a
   negative impact on trade leading up to an event and provide a commercial advantage to competitors.

* As a guide, employees should not make any comment on the internet or social media that they would not
   be prepared to make offline, directly to their colleagues or their manager.

* If an employee has a concern or grievance about working at Tesco, this should not be posted on a social
   networking site or blog. This should be raised offline. Any grievance should be raised to the employee's Line
   Manager or Personnel Manager in accordance with the Company grievance procedure.

* For business-related purposes only, Tesco reserves the right to review the content of staff contributions to
   any social networking sites (even if they are marked "private" or similar), and to use and disclose any
   information retrieved from any internet site or company computer system, for the purposes of any
   disciplinary action.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

* Content of all internal communications (emails, hosts, memos etc.) are intended for internal use only and
   are not for distribution outside Tesco, unless for legitimate business reasons.

* Should an employee want to film on Tesco property (including film on mobile phones or digital cameras),
   they should obtain permission from their Store/Depot Manager or Work Level 3 Manager.