Social media in the workplace

Endeavour Partnership advises employers to consider implementing a social media policy for their workforce in light of ACAS’ recent guidance on the subject covering sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Bebo and Twitter. 

Metab Hussain, trainee solicitor in Endeavour’s specialist employment team, recommends setting out acceptable behaviour for employees which provides them with clear consequences of breaching the policy.  He also highlights that the explosion in use of these sites is costing companies billions of pounds each year.

ACAS suggests that 55 per cent of staff are now logging on to social media websites at work, through either their computer or Smartphone.  In addition to the lost productivity, some less obvious problems facing employers is the propensity for disgruntled employees to vent their workplace frustration on social media sites. Employees’ negative comments, whether well founded or not, are instantly accessible to millions. The 2010 My Job Group Survey found that 1 in 3 of the employees surveyed had talked negatively about their workplace online.

With Facebook being only second to Google in terms of internet traffic this is a real-life problem which can affect each and every employer. In 2008, 13 Virgin Atlantic cabin crew were dismissed for criticising safety standards and describing passengers as “chavs” on Facebook. These well publicised dismissals proved to be incredibly embarrassing for Virgin Atlantic.

A little closer to home is the case of Preece v JD Wetherspoons.  It was found that a pub manager who had posted negative comments on Facebook about two customers whilst she was at work was dismissed fairly, even though the customers had verbally abused her. In this instance Wetherspoons had a clear social media policy which made it clear that a breach of policy may amount to gross misconduct and ultimately dismissal.

Metab Hussain comments: “Before employers start to reach for the P45’s, it is worth considering the case of Witham v Club 24 Limited where an employee had made negative comments about her work colleagues on Facebook. On this occasion, the dismissal was deemed to be unfair even though the employer had a good social media policy. This illustrates that employers should always investigate the matter fully, assess the risk of harm, act reasonably and always follow a fair procedure when considering dismissing an employee.”

For further information on the issues covered in this article, please email Metab at m.hussain@endeavourpartnership.com