employment law issues around the misuse of social media
The use of social media is commonplace and, for many, there is a
feeling that making comments on social media websites has no
restrictions and should not have any adverse consequences as far as
the individual's work place is concerned. For others, any member of
staff making a comment or recording their activities on a social
media site should be taken into account in the context of the
individual's employment.
The legal position is not quite as clear cut as either of these
approaches might like.
So how should (and can) you, as a nursery operator, react if a
member of staff:
- complains about a parent or a child, by name, on Facebook but
doesn’t mention the name of the setting or identify you as the
operator?
- participates in an offensive chain mail from their home
computer, which contains racist and sexist comments and which ends
up on your work computer system?
- comments on consultations on workplace reorganisations on a
Facebook page created for the purpose?
All of these have parallels in actual cases that have come
before Employment Tribunals:
- a pub manager was subjected to abusive behaviour by two
customers, whom she asked to leave. She was then subjected to three
abusive phone calls, from the customers' daughter, using insulting
language. Having dealt with these situations professionally, the
manger complained about the customers, by name, on Facebook while
working. She did not mention the name of her employers or the
pub
- an employee sent an offensive email from his home computer to a
colleague’s home computer. The email was a chain email headed 'It’s
your duty to pass this on!' and contained material of a racist and
sexist nature. As a result of sending this email to his colleague,
it entered the employer’s computer system
- an employee off work due to stress attended consultation
meetings regarding workplace reorganisation. The employee was aware
that such meetings were confidential until all consultation had
been completed. Feeling that the company’s website did not provide
an unrestricted forum for debate among employees, and following the
completion of the group consultation process, the employee created
a page on Facebook. After noting the company’s policy on social
networking sites, the employee removed the Facebook page.
All of these circumstances resulted in the individual in
question being dismissed. However, in the last example the
Employment Tribunal held the dismissal to be unfair.
The employee who created the Facebook page had six years service
and a clean disciplinary record. The Tribunal held that no
reasonable employer could have concluded that dismissal was the
appropriate sanction, particularly given that he had apologised for
his actions and removed the offending page as soon as he realised
it was grounds for disciplinary action. The employee was awarded
£11,350 in compensation.
action points
- Ensure you have an IT policy that includes the use of social
networking sites and clearly communicates your expectations in
relation to these sites and, in particular, where disciplinary
action/dismissal may result.
- Educate employees by making them aware of the impact that their
actions could have.
- Be reasonable when deciding the sanction you impose.
