London employment solicitors at Southampton Row look at the Impact of social networking in the work place
Social networking has been with us for some time now. Contrary to the natural response one might expect from an employer, to ban the sites as a waste of time, some companies now actively engage in Twitter and Facebook as part of their business strategy and marketing. Apparently half of the fortune 100 companies have twitter accounts.
There is an obvious concern that purely social sites will take over in the work place - not least concerns over productivity loss, and proprietary and intellectual property protection, and protecting an employer's reputation. The sheer numbers of people that you can reach make it a much more risky arena for things like giving 'advice' or holding yourself out as an expert.
Some generations coming into the workplace in the next few years will never have been without say Facebook etc, and an employer has to recognize this; It is quite simply how young people maintain contact with their friends.
The case of Grant and Ross involved a company where there was a ban on using the internet in working hours. Two sisters were dismissed for accessing non work related sites during working hours. They went on to win their unfair dismissal claims, because it was felt that the policy at work was not clearly worded, and in particular did not define what 'working hours' were! The tribunal also looked at the types of sites accessed all of which were innocuous, and the sisters were able to demonstrate that their productivity levels had not fallen at all due to accessing the sites. It is always going to be a balancing act to get the right controls and systems in place.
Employees often mistakenly perceive that these sites are 'private'. Facebook for example has 170 different settings, but it is vital that confidential information is not accidentally leaked and that employees understand their security settings.
Similarly whilst networking is invaluable, one should consider whether you want to make public your clients and customers and contact details, as it can be an indirect way of competitors finding out what you may want to keep confidential. Employees with key client contacts will normally have restrictive covenants in their contracts, but can you stop people 'updating' their details and effectively notifying contacts and clients of your new role? Some businesses are now using 'garden leave' as a more effective means of restraint, because technically you are still employed so you cannot update your profile until you have actually left.
The whole concept of solicitation through social worksites is a new problem for the courts when looking at restrictive covenants in employment contracts. A leading case involving a recruitment agent setting up a rival firm, showed the courts will assist in ordering disclosure of your contacts, if they consider it is a misuse of confidential information.
Conclusion
The message for employers is if you have a social network policy make sure you define the ambit of it clearly, and in particular impress on staff that it is for the benefit of the business and contacts and not for personal gain or use.
