Tonight at 10.00pm, Channel 4 airs 'Don't Blame Facebook' a documentary tracking down people across the UK who have made extraordinary blunders on Facebook and other social media websites.
Whether stories involving employees & employers are included we don't know yet but if you have not got a social media policy in place, it may well be the time to take action.
The use of the internet and social media has grown substantially over the last decade, and the use of these new web-based technologies for work related activities has been a major part of that. In 2009 a face-to-face survey of 2013 individuals randomly selected from UK households found that 70 per cent of the population were using the internet, an increase from 59 per cent in 2003, based on a response rate of 62 per cent. Among employed internet users, 61 per cent made some use of the internet at work, spending on average seven hours a week online at work. Around 91 per cent of businesses with ten or more employees have internet access.
A research paper prepared for ACAS by the Institute for Employment Services includes the case of Joe Gordon, the first British blogger to be dismissed for work-related comments made online. Gordon wrote a general, allegedly humorous, blog, entitled the Woolamaloo Gazette, about his life that occasionally touched on his work at the Edinburgh branch of the bookseller Waterstone’s. The comments about work included complaining about his shift pattern, referring to his manager as “evil boss” and calling him a derogatory name for asking him to work on a bank holiday. Gordon was dismissed from his position in early 2005 following a disciplinary hearing, but successfully challenged the decision on appeal, following the case’s high profile in the media.
In another example, Virgin dismissed 13 staff who participated in a discussion on Facebook in which passengers were described as “chavs” and allegations were made that planes were full of cockroaches. The employees were disciplined on the grounds of bringing the company into disrepute.
At Jackie Whittle Consultancy, we are here to review your existing social media policy or are able to develop one to suit the needs of your business and of course, your employees.
