"My boss sucks" – 40% criticise employers online

May 21, 2010 in News Roundup

– but 55% support disciplinary action for doing so

Almost 40 per cent of UK employees criticise their workplace on social media, with one in five admitting to lambasting their bosses, a recent survey reveled.

Nearly 60 per cent confessed they would change what they wrote on their social networking profile if they knew their employer was reading it – yet recent Facebook privacy settings changes mean many employers could already be checking up on staff.

The employee research – conducted for MyJobGroup.co.uk which operates the UK’s largest network of regional job boards – showed over half (55 per cent) of workers believed fellow staff should face disciplinary action for criticising their workplace on social networking sites.

Consequences, what consequesnces?

Most staff had little or no awareness of the legal implications of their online jibes and 70 per cent had no idea if their company had an HR or disciplinary policy in place to tackle online criticism; only 16 per cent knew for certain their company was equipped to deal with such issues.

In response, MyJobGroup.co.uk has teamed up with leading national law firm Irwin Mitchell Solicitors to make both employer and employee aware of the severity of the issue.

Fergal Dowling, an employment law specialist at Irwin Mitchell Solicitors, noted that abuse of social media can be grounds for discipline, even termination of contract, depending on the level of abuse, and the policies in place at the company.

He said: “Employees need to be increasingly aware and careful about what they write online as proved by the conviction of a man who tweeted what he thought was a joke about an airport bomb.

“Employers and HR departments need to be upfront and honest with their employees about their policies. Many firms may ban social media altogether but in some industries that is simply not viable, and some creative industries rely on social media.”

For more information visit www.myjobgroup.co.uk