Trade unions ask employers not to ban social networking at work

19 May 2010 09:44:19

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has called for employers to be more understanding of their staff and allow for social networking sites such as Facebook to be accessible from work.

Recent studies estimate around 50 to 70 per cent of businesses have now banned or restricted Facebook in their offices.

This comes as some companies, such as Kent County Council, have stated that staff caught using Facebook when they should be working were liable to be sacked, as their actions were counterproductive.

General secretary of the TUC, Brendan Barber, said: "Simply cracking down on use of new web tools like Facebook is not a sensible solution to a problem which is only going to get bigger.

"It's unreasonable for employers to try to stop their staff from having a life outside work. It is better to invest a little time in working out sensible conduct guidelines, so that there don't need to be any nasty surprises for staff or employers."

Meanwhile, the TUC's web expert, John Wood, and head of equalities, Sarah Veale, have issued a guide indicating that employees must be careful what they put on the site, especially with regards to information about their company.