Companies that allow their employees to post online reviews – often to attract customers – without making it clear that they work there could face sanctions from the Competition Office.
“We will not hesitate to take strong action to enforce the law and address problematic notices,” Competition Commissioner Matthew Boswell said in a statement released on Thursday.
According to the head of the Competition Bureau, online reviews are “at the heart of a consumer’s purchasing decision,” meaning a poorly labeled employee review could mislead consumers.
Therefore, employees need to be transparent when deciding to post a review about their company or even competing companies.
The competition office reminded that this also applies to testimonials published on social media.
“Any person who writes or authorizes the writing of reviews which give a false or misleading impression to the consumer may be held liable under the Competition Act,” it said.
To stay on the right side of the law, the Competition Office recommends:
Train your employees to properly disclose their business relationships when posting reviews about the company or its competitors.
Establish a compliance program to prevent employees from posting misleading reviews and build an effective monitoring system to detect misconduct.