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From: Jonathan Hirst, founding partner, ITogether

Date: October

I enjoyed the article “Twitter terrorism”(September/October). ITogether recently commissioned research that showed that 59 per cent of employees use their personal mobile devices for work. What’s more, 50 per cent expect to have full, unfettered access to all their personal online accounts and social networking sites throughout their working day. The findings demonstrate the nation’s absolute addiction to social media.

One of the biggest problems for any employer is expressions of negativity towards their business through these channels. This is made worse if an employee has synched all of their accounts, for example, a throwaway Facebook post meant to be read by friends and family, could immediately appear on a professional business networking site.

As an employee you need to be mindful of the content you are communicating online and aware of who might read it. As an employer you should have a policy in place to advise employees what you expect from them. If there is a possibility that you will see their Facebook updates about their drunken Friday night and how much they hate their job, then the policy needs to cover this. You will need to consider if this will be taken into account as part of reviews and disciplinary processes, or whether it is deemed activity external to work and not relevant.

Whichever side of the line you’re on, it needs to be clear. Tribunals are the bane of any employer’s life. To avoid getting into difficult situations with your staff, set an acceptable use policy and make sure staff take it seriously. It could save you a lot of money.

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