Facing Up To Facebook
Wednesday, September 26th, 2007Face who? In case you don’t already know (I didn’t until recently!) Facebook is a “social networking” website. In plain English I think that means that it’s a place on the Internet where you go to talk to your friends, catch up with the latest gossip, make new friends, date, and share music, photos and videos etc.
It’s remarkably popular! Apparently it has more than 5 million users in the UK alone – no doubt including many of the people that work for you. “Myspace”, which is another “social networking” website, boasts 10 million UK users.Add in to the mix good old fashioned email and things like MSN messaging (live chat with your mates via the Internet) and you have to wonder if the good people that work for you have much time left to do any real work? Employers are right to be concerned about loss of productivity!
It’s a serious issue. According to some estimates addicts of Facebook, Myspace and Bebo (that’s another social networking site) are costing UK employers more than £100 million a day in lost productivity.
Defending the right of employees to surf the TUC has urged employers not to over react by banning access to such sites but to put in place policies cover the general use of social networking sites.
However you are perfectly within your rights to put such sites off limits altogether and you might well decide to do so. The TUC suggests a more pragmatic approach which would allow staff access during breaks within mutually agreed parameters.
The TUC has also warning employers not to be tempted to check out job applicants’ profiles online: as only a minority will have such profiles, this could give some candidates an unfair advantage (or disadvantage) and breach the employer’s recruitment equality policies!
So, what do you need to do? The boring lawyer in me advises:
- You need to set out some clear guidelines to all staff in order to ensure that your productivity is not adversely affected by their personal internet and email usage.
- You also need to speak to your IT people and make sure that you monitor usage so that you can effectively enforce the policy.
- You might also ask your IT bods to block staff access to certain sites – and you are perfectly within your rights to do so.
- I suggest a clear Internet and Email policy for all staff. If you have one already, then I suggest that now is a good time to review it.
- Make sure that you inform employees that their web and email usage may be monitored in order to avoid possible breach of privacy rights. Remember too to ensure that any personal information gathered about employees is held and processed in line with data protection law.
What should you put in to your policy? I suggest that you speak to your own lawyers (or get in touch with Ellis Whittam) for help. As a minimum I think that the policy needs to make clear:
- That your company e-mail and internet facility is to promote effective communication on matters relating to the company’s business;
- That the system is not for personal use;
- That staff have no right to privacy when using the company’s email, Internet and other computer systems;
- That company email and the internet must not be used for spreading gossip or for personal gain or in breach of any of the company’s other employment policies on issues such as, for example, sexual or racial harassment;
- That messages sent via email and the internet are to be written in accordance with the standards of any other form of written company communication and the content and language used must be consistent with best company practice;
- That the company reserves the right to retrieve the contents of all incoming and outgoing messages and history of web pages browsed for the purpose of monitoring whether the use of the e-mail system and Internet is legitimate;
- That staff must not use MSN Messenger, Facebook, Myspace, Bebo and any other social networking sites in working time – specify times (if any) when they can do so;
- That revelations about the company or about other employees (for example in personal blogs) that jeopardise the company’s good image might result in disciplinary action;
- That internet use must be for legitimate company business only. Searching for or viewing or downloading web pages the content of which is offensive, lewd, obscene, of a sexual nature or in any way discriminatory will constitute gross misconduct;
- That misuse of the e-mail system in breach of the policy will be treated as misconduct; and
- That misuse of the e-mail system by transmission of any material that is defamatory, offensive or obscene, untrue or malicious, discriminatory, confidential or protected by copyright will be treated as gross misconduct.
What do you think? Is it a problem in your business? Am I being a Draconian old bore that just needs to chill and get on line to get a life? Answers on a postcard.