Social Media at Work
With Social Media ever growing, do we know how much of what we publish or have published in the past could be viewed by current employers and prospective employers. How private is that Friday night post? Can an employer look back through your social media activity and see all of your posts? Is it fair to write how you feel about a certain topic or person? These are all interesting questions that have no real definitive answer.
Recently a gas engineer was sacked after his employer found derogatory historic Twitter posts criticising his workplace and colleagues. The engineer took a claim that he was unfairly dismissed to an Employment Tribunal. The Judge ultimately ruled it was right for him to have lost his job.
The employer received an allegation that the engineer in question had bullied a colleague; an investigation into his conduct was initiated which included looking into his social media activity.
The engineer argued that when writing the Tweets he thought that his account was private, that he had written the comments a number of years ago and that he felt that he should receive sympathetic treatment because his length of service to the firm – he had worked for them for nearly 30 years.
His arguments were rejected and his employer was able to take action against him because of the public criticism.
Lawson-West Employment Law specialist, Carrie-Ann Randall comments: “The heart of this story comes down to a member of staff being unhappy. It would have been far more effective for the employee in question to raise his concerns with his manager, however he chose to display his feelings on Twitter. It is possible to argue that he was simply letting off steam however ultimately he acted in a highly unprofessional way, that could have or did cause a colleague to feel bullied and potentially bought the company into disrepute.
This is a serious issue and one which is growing. More and more do we display our emotions through social media, post photographs of our social gatherings, all without thinking about any possible consequences.
The Lawson-West Employment team are experienced in drafting work-place policies, to make sure you are protected from your employees conduct which could lead to damage to your reputation. If you think your companies social media policy needs reviewing please contact us on 0116 212 1000 / 01858 445 480".
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