NEWS // Face up to Facebook
Employers would be well advised to come to terms with the arrival of Facebook and its ilk. For anyone who has managed to miss the arrival of this phenomenon, according to the website, " Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them. People use Facebook to keep up with friends, upload photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet".
What perhaps should be added is that this utility is frequently used by employees during work hours, on work computers and that personal information on the site can be available to the public or sections of the public. Previously, the issue was perhaps less relevant due to people using blogs anonymously, however, sites such as Facebook require people to identify themselves.
Dealing with one issue at a time ......
1. Timewasting
Thousands of employees have been banned by employers from using the social networking site. IT providers have been inundated with requests to block access to this site and other sites which encourage time-wasting in the office such as MySpace and Hotmail. With 31million users worldwide and over 2 million in the UK alone, Facebook is something which employers should not ignore. Although some people claim to (and perhaps do) use the site for business purposes, on the whole the site is used socially.
Solution
Have a clear internet policy setting out exactly what is and what is not acceptable. A consistent approach should be taken to the application of the policy and it should be regularly reviewed and communicated to all employees. It is a practical question for the employer to decide whether they want to ban these sort of sites in general or whether they simply want to restrict usage.
2. Bringing the company in disrepute
Facebook users often put very sensitive information on to the website about their personal lives and about their employers. A group known as 'I have dosed around on Facebook all day and consequently have done no work' has been set up and has over 240 members. It would not be hard to envisage Employment Tribunal cases being won or lost based on information contained on a Facebook page. For example discriminatory or libelous remarks may be made on such pages. Comments about colleagues and indiscreet mention of weekend activities are all things which others may have access to.
Business associates of the employer may also have access to the site and so the question as to whether the employee has brought the employer into disrepute arises. A business associate may be less keen to do business with your company if they believe the employees to be a bunch of work shy lager louts (the sort of information people seem keen to share on their personal pages).
Solution
It is advisable to include within the employee's contract of employment and within the company's disciplinary procedure a clause which highlights the fact that it is gross misconduct to bring the company into disrepute. This makes it clear from the outset that such behaviour will not be tolerated. If these sites are not banned by the company, consider guidelines as to appropriate use.
Interview candidates be aware!