Schuylkill County now has its first set of rules governing what employees can post on social media sites such as blogs, forums and Facebook.

The policy is aimed at making sure any employees actions don't reflect negatively on the county or its departments, compromise the county's efficient operation or bring it into disrepute.It's also meant to ensure confidentiality.If a person acknowledges their employment with the county or department, the policy makes them responsible for postings, comments and photos on their social networking pages.They are required to represent the county in a professional manner on their pages or sites, and respect confidentiality rules."Under no circumstances should employees discuss any workplace situations, including employee discipline, personnel information, or other employees, clients, unions, discipline, or general office knowledge on a social networking site."Specifically prohibited is the sharing to social networking sites of:• Confidential, sensitive, or copyrighted information, including data, photographs, videos or audio recordings;• Photographs of clients, suspects, arrestees, evidence, residents, victims, etc.;• Comments related to pending investigations;• Pictures or videos of official department training, activities or work-related assignments without the express written permission of the department director;• Information about clients.The policy supplements the county's computer network and Internet access policy.Human Resources Director Martina Chawstiak said before the new policy was adopted, matters were handled on a case-by-case basis.