With 70% of all corporate records now stored electronically, HR must make sure their organizations’ systems are set up to retrieve critical information on demand. That’s essential if your organization is sued. Long delays in providing evidence can lead to needless litigation costs—and crush your chances in court.

Q. I heard that Facebook use is really picking up, but I don’t think most of our employees are that tech-savvy. Should I be concerned about my employees accessing social networking sites while at work?

Because employment laws and your business are in a constant state of flux, it’s critical to keep your personnel policies up-to-date. As spring approaches, one item on every HR professional’s spring cleaning list should be a review of the organization’s employee handbook. In light of recent legal changes, be sure your policies include these updates:

More employers are using Facebook and other social media sites to spot employees who file fraudulent workers’ comp claims. Example: An employee who was in too much pain to get out of bed posted video of himself competing in a rodeo.

Q. I saw in the paper last week that texting while driving is no longer allowed in North Carolina. Should my company have a policy regarding this?

Q. Can I prohibit an employee from using the company’s e-mail system for union-organizing purposes?

It’s a business imperative that’s especially important for HR: Make sure your computer systems allow you to retrieve critical information immediately on demand. That’s essential if you are ever sued, because long delays in providing documentary evidence can lead to needless litigation costs—and could even mean you’ll lose the case.

Employers seeking Internet-savvy candidates have been flocking to social media sites in the past year. But employers (and their lawyers) are discovering a hidden problem in that recruiting-by-Facebook strategy: Depending too much on the sites could leave your organization vulnerable to age and race discrimination lawsuits. Heavy use of social networking sites may skew your job applicant pool to contain few minorities and older people.

We all know the law often plays catch-up with technology. Well, the Florida Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee is attempting to bring judges into the 21st century with the perfect combination of high tech and tight restrictions. The committee has advised judges who use the Facebook social networking web site not to “friend” lawyers who might appear before them.

Employers and HR professionals hear it all the time: You must be prepared to preserve relevant corporate information and data and produce it if you are sued. You can take some preparatory steps to ensure that you can comply with inevitable litigation holds and are proficiently primed to assist your attorneys should litigation occur. This list of 22 to-do’s can guide your document and data preservation and retention procedures:

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed late last year to rule for the first time on whether employees have a right to privacy when sending text messages on cell phones and electronic devices supplied by their employers. The case involves several California police officers who were disciplined for sexually explicit texts.

By now, you should have an electronic communications policy and know to block computer access to newly terminated employees. But it’s also wise to prohibit current employees from forwarding e-mails from the company computer to their personal e-mail accounts outside the company.

The Judicial Council of the 3rd Circuit recently released its opinion dismissing a porn-related misconduct case against 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Alex Kozinski. The complaint, brought by a court administrator, accused Kozinski and two other judges of disabling the court’s Internet filters to download illegal pornography and pirated music without being detected.

Gov. Charlie Crist has called for an investigation following allegations that Florida Department of Transportation employees used code words in e-mails referring to the state’s pending high-speed rail program. Some e-mails refer to “pancakes” and “French toast,” apparent code words for aspects of the transit. The suspected reason for the syrupy sleight of hand: to avoid having the e-mails discovered through Freedom of Information Act requests.

Here’s a potential electronic communications problem you may not have considered. An employee who forwards e-mail from a company computer and e-mail account to his personal address may end up using those e-mails later in litigation against the company. That’s one reason it makes sense to prohibit employees from forwarding e-mails to their personal e-mail accounts.