Should I let my employees use Facebook at work?

Worker sacked for posting on Facebook about her ‘totally boring’ job
A young teenager was working as an office administrator; her routine job was filing, stapling and hole-punching. Like many teenagers, she was underwhelmed by the menial tasks she was given in her new job.

But while other teenagers might have confided in friends and family about the filing, stapling and hole-punching, she decided to let off steam by posting comments on the social networking website Facebook.
Three weeks later, the words ‘first day at work. omg (oh my God)!! So dull!!’ came back to haunt her when her boss discovered them as he surfed the net. Another posting two days later complained, ‘all I do is shred, hole punch n scan paper!!! omg!’, while another produced the moan, ‘I’m so totally bored!!!’
She was called into the manager’s office and dismissed on the spot before being escorted from the premises. The employee said she was shocked at her treatment as her comments had been on a personal site and not intended to be seen by outsiders – least of all her employer.
The manager said that he had seen her comments on Facebook and he doesn’t want the company being in the news and it was not good publicity. She claimed that she didn’t say the company’s name, just that her job was boring.

After a week she was called in to see the manager who handed her a letter explaining her employment had been terminated. The manager claimed her display of disrespect and dissatisfaction undermined the relationship and made it untenable.

Use of social networking sites

Employees are increasingly getting caught out posting unflattering comments on websites and being sacked unfairly due to the absence of policies regarding the use of social networking sites.
Facebook has claimed 24 million fans worldwide since it started in 2004 and overtaken MySpace and LinkedIn as the highest-traffic UK social networking site. It is becoming an increasingly popular social networking tool in Britain even as it is being banned in a growing number of workplaces. In fact, London has overtaken Toronto as the city with the most Facebook users in the world.
More than two-thirds of London businesses have simply banned it outright, according to a recent survey, however, this approach risks eroding goodwill and provoking accusations of “Big Brother” tactics.

An outright ban may not necessarily be the best course of action for employers particularly as businesses are battling to attract the best talent in competitive markets. However, the use of social networking sites has to be balanced against the risks arising from allowing free or even unlimited use with no guidelines.

The use of Facebook can bring a number of benefits:

• Business development and identifying potential clients
• A source of recruitment to help identify potential candidates
• Many organisations and managers believe it makes work more productive by sparking innovative ideas, boosting morale and reducing stress
• Facebook has become a promotional tool for advertisement agencies and the media industry
• It can encourage employees to build relationships with colleagues across the company and collaborate on ideas

However, there are disadvantages too:

• High use can place demands on the IT infrastructure
• “Cyber slacking”
• Revealing work-related information or problems with managers on Facebook pages whilst networking with friends/colleagues can result in reputational damage and complaints
• Misuse of information and misinterpretation
• The relationship with colleagues/managers within the organisation may be affected

Even if employers ban certain websites at work, most people these days have mobile access to social networks.
Employers can’t stop employees from using Facebook/social networking sites on their mobiles. If employers restrict them saying not to use work mobiles for anything other than work/not to use personal mobiles at work/do not carry them to work/asking the employees to hand over their mobiles to a supervisor, they won’t be happy with these limitations and it could result in low productivity, low morale and stress.
Email / Internet / Social Media Policies

As social networking sites and devices to access them become more sophisticated, it is helpful to consider the impact on your business.

We recommend you have a clearly developed and open “conduct policy” regarding the use of such sites.

Therefore it is advisable to review your email/internet/social media policy to make sure it is well drafted, communicated and updated over time to address new trends in social media.
Flexible working arrangements whereby employees work from home or other locations make it difficult to control employee technology usage. Organisations need to develop policies to deliver and secure sensitive data on both company-owned and employee-owned devices.
We suggest the following guidelines are included:

• Restrict access.  Give employees a break and allow them to access social networking sites during their lunch break, before and after office hours. Web filtering software gives administrators the ability to implement time-based access to these sites and others.
• Educate and train staff. Employees’ actions can cause security problems for the organisation if suspicious links are clicked on that infect the computer/network. Giving out personal details on a line should also be warned against. Showing your employees how to productively use social networking tools to enhance their personal brand (good for their career prospects) and network online (helpful to generate new clients for the company) will be beneficial.
• Security policies in place and use. All employees should sign policies related to Internet use at work, access to social networking sites and what you can say or do during office hours either on your computer or mobile phone.
• Monitoring of all web activity is important and employees should be aware that their internet use may be recorded and that failure to comply with company policy may result in disciplinary action.
• Not revealing work-related information. Employees should be asked not to reveal any work-related information to anyone in their network. Employees at work/home who use Facebook on their mobiles/pc need to be made aware that they are not to comment on anything related to work/clients/co-workers/company.

Contact People Business Human Resources Surrey if you would like to discuss arranging your companies social policies or any advice on the matter.

Alternatively, if you would like help reviewing an existing policy or need any advice please email us at info@peoplebusiness.co.uk or call us on 01932 874944