[Closed] Facebook and work. Employment experts please?

The only thing i can think of is bringing the company into disrepute.

that's enough for me.

idiot thing to do. If you're going to slag off work do it in a pub, over a pint, with like minded mates. Not on open broadcast.

Rule #1: never ever ever disrespect your workplace in a public forum!

Yip, that would be gross misconduct at my work and instant dismissal

How on earth can you bring your company into disrepute by making a comment on a social networking site?

It sounds suspiciously like a load of old bollocks to me.

So who bubbled him then?

I hate my boss. I think he's the biggest **** I've ever had the displeasure of working for.

DD, are you self employed?! 😉

Well you can be tried and fined for making a joke on twitter, so I assume dismissal for slagging off your employer is fair game.

darcy, I've been waiting to do this for years. You're fired!

Did he say BOC or bunch of cants?

If the former, he could say he meant anything else he cares to think about. If the latter he certainly hasn't done himself any favours and should have thought a bit before writing stuff like that.

[url= http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/23/sickie_woo/ ]Facebook Sickie Post[/url]

Basically anything an employer chooses to regard as likely to bring them into disrepute is Gross Misconduct. He might as well have nicked the safe.

should have claimed his dog or a friend had access to his computer/phone.

Agreed it was a bit silly to post something that, especially as its basically in the public domain, but i'd have bullshitted that BOC meant something else entirely. I'd be just as concerned who reported the posting as well.

The younger generation seem to live their lives through facebook these days.
I know of couple who thank each other for a nice meal / evening out. And they live together FFS! sometimes wonder if its just done for show.

Best of chums

I'd be just as concerned who reported the posting as well.

On facebook any of the friends of any of the people who post in the comments can see the whole post, so if there are a few comments then the audience for that exchange is potentially huge. The two people in conversation work for the same company, so all of their collegues that are also on facebook are audience to it, if any of them also comment/like/share the comment then all of that additional persons contacts see that too

Whatever you do in life that could have legal implications then it's imperative you never ever post it on any site never mind Facebook. Countless numbers of people have been caught out by a quick Google search and Facebook is a prime site for getting info - especially for insurance companies checking fraudulent claims. I once got a telling off where I worked because my relative went for an interview for an engineering apprenticeship and I told him engineerings a dead-end job - as a laugh. But this twonk repeated what I said when he was asked did he know anyone who worked at the company that was doing the interview. Yes you can guess he said me and then repeated what I'd said to MY BOSS!!!!! I was hauled into the office and told keep my opinions to myself so I guess the current Facebook thing that's happened is vey valid. Even if he doesn't loose his job the problems back at work will not go away and they will find it very difficult to carry on. Hope it gets sorted out though.

You might as well write a letter to the local paper with the same contents. Facebook is a) virtually entirely public, and b) easily recorded by printing the page.

Personally I'd try and get a job somewhere else and take it as a lesson learned.

Just to muddy the waters, he's taking redundancy in December, so Im concerned they're going to blow this out of proportion and use this as an excuse to sack him and therefore not pay him his redundancy.

not Best of Chums then

Now that's interesting. Get him to see an employment solicitor and see what they say and then if he manages keep his job then make sure he sticks it out until the very end. There might be more to this than meets the eye as it doesn't surprise me the lengths some companies go to to get out of paying people redundancy pay.

I think he needs to refer to his contract of employment. If it is explicitly mentioned (disrepute) he is probably ****ed, but seek advice. Sometimes a tribunal claim can be enough to put the company off and if they were planning on redundancy anyway, might be the least path of resistance for them.

Make sure his company follow due process to the letter, this is another area where he could act even if he is in the wrong.

Main thing is that this must be fought. Businesses do NOT control our opinions and actions in our private life.

I fail to see how facebook is public as long as the privacy settings are locked down.

Hope he doesnt or didnt work for the British oxygen Company, a very reputable company.

Its a a very easy way to get rid of staff without redundancy etc,or just failing staff after an internet trawl.

Would he not have had to identify the co in order to bring it into disrepute?

Box Of Chocolates?
You never know what you're going to get?
Fired, it would seem..... 😐

As I always tell my form class. Don't do anything silly; if you do don't record in photos or video, if you do don't show anyone or post it anywhere, if you do you're pretty much caught.

Here endeth the lesson

I fail to see how facebook is public as long as the privacy settings are locked down.

On facebook any of the friends of any of the people who post in the comments can see the whole post, so if there are a few comments then the audience for that exchange is potentially huge. The two people in conversation work for the same company, so all of their collegues that are also on facebook are audience to it, if any of them also comment/like/share the comment then all of that additional persons contacts see that too

Rule #342 NEVER post stuff on the interwebs about your employer which you'd not happily say to your boss/HR/everyone

as an aside, a bloke I used to work with just posted this on FB...

" ****S..........Today
we saw Muslims break the two minute silence in central london, with
banners holding "British Soldiers Burn In Hell" & the burning of a
poppy... if you don't like us English people paying respect for our
brave fighters, then you know where the airport is. disgusting,
...disrespectful b******s! copy and paste this if you're English and
proud. R.I.P our brave fighters"

Wow! Do you think he will get the sack just for being a stupid dumb****?? He does seem to move around jobs 😀

This is why I am not friends on Facebook with anyone I work for, with or have previously worked with.

That's what linkedin is for.

i'd be hiring a lawyer ASAP if someone tried this with me. From the OPs statement it sounds like the facebook comment is sufficiently vague that could mean almost anything.

I think that clarifies things for you.

not really I understand that but what I dont get is how its public, how do news reports contain comments about such and suches facebook page etc.

There is precedent for this. Facebook comments are treated the same as a any other public statement such as a letter to a newspaper.

He is in big trouble I am afraid

I think a lawyer would have a field day with this to be honest.

He could go off on stress etc etc never work for months and claim it all on them.

Not that I'm a lawyer but its too vague a comment.

Apparently there are 3 people who have been suspended on pay about this. My SiL, dinnerlady doris and I assume the original poster.
I think he's foolish for making comments about work full stop, esp when he's posted from work on his jesus phone in the past.

I know of couple who thank each other for a nice meal / evening out. And they live together FFS! sometimes wonder if its just done for show.

I've never Facebooked (is that a word?) and I don't think I ever will but I got my job this summer because the guy before me did the very same and slagged off the fantastic company I now work for and got the boot.

So I say thank you Facebook....

anagallis_arvensis - Member
I think that clarifies things for you.
not really I understand that but what I dont get is how its public, how do news reports contain comments about such and suches facebook page etc.

Because someone told them, if you look someone up of facebook you can see who their friends are - go needle them - one of them will be genuinely flattered that a reporter thinks they're interesting

am i reading this thread right, he is being made redundant, so yes his work are a bunch of c**ts. Can't really argue that detail.

Friend skived off to play the new Call of duty game. His PS3 is linked to his facebook and going off the achivents he got his boss (a facebook friend) could see he started playing just after midnight for 12 hours straight. He's been suspended too.

I use facebook a bit to keep in touch with friends around the world, share family photos etc and its OK for that.

I cant stand the puerile drivel that many people whine on about or the need to befriend people all the time. As for work colleagues they are just that and I communicate with them for 50 hours a week, more than my family! why would i want to communicate with them anymore?

It's another case of big brother watching you and the way they can use whatever you say or do to get and end result. I know of someone who had a car that broke down big time - big money bill and went on a rant about it on various forums and of course Facebook. Suggestions were made to "have the car disappear" and then claim on the insurance. Needless to say that's what happened and the car got "stolen" When he came to claim for it he thought he would be ok but after a few weeks of digging by them, the insurance company came back and laid out clear what they thought and they said he was trying to defraud them. I believe that the police got involved too and then it came down to checking phone records and in the end he had to admit what happened. End result no money payout and no car either - remember - say nothing!

Person tries to commit fraud and is found out via facebook. Sounds like facebook+1 to me. How's that a bad thing?

His PS3 is linked to his facebook and going off the achivents he got his boss (a facebook friend) could see he started playing just after midnight for 12 hours straight. He's been suspended too.

What for? Just because your not fit for work doesn't mean you have to stop and put your life on hold. You can still socialise and go about life as normal, you can't really do anything that would be seen as equal to your job though. Say going off with a bad back and then seen moving house, lifting the furniture and things yourself.

As for the BOC guy, if he used the full term he's on a hard card. I'd say it more to do with dignity at work rather than disrepute. Calling colleagues such things is a form of bullying and just no tolerated in many work places.

As a GP i'm really careful about what i write on facebook and maximise the security settings. Just needs one friend of a friend who didnt get the antibiotics they thought they needed from me to complain about something i may have written on FB

If you don't want it inthe public domain then don't put it there!

Well despite being still suspended and having another meeting with his HR dept yesterday, they still havent given him their decision and said he will be getting a letter from them, but they wont tell him whats happening. i.e. final written warning or dismissal.
I think they're taking the mick by making him get 2 ferries and cycling 3 miles to tell him basically nothing.
I still think they're trying to find a way of canning him rather than pay his redundancy. He's only got a few weeks to go beofre he leaves.

I still think they're trying to find a way of canning him rather than pay his redundancy. He's only got a few weeks to go beofre he leaves

Can he negotiate something and use this to his advantage? Cough to being caught so long as he walks quietly & doesn't head to a tribunal, but he gets to keep his redundancy, and any future reference requests get a reference that reflects his ublemished time at the company - assuming it has been unblemished?

Does he have a union rep who can support him?

He probably shafted himself using the ambiguity of the phrase as a defence when he apologised for the comment, sounds like he is getting dismissed though, can't see they'd tell him to go away and wait for a letter if it was good news...

Trouble is, he hasn't got any bargaining chips has he? I hardly think he's in a position to be dictating term to his employers.

I think they're taking the mick by making him get 2 ferries and cycling 3 miles to tell him basically nothing.

Errr, aren't they still paying him full pay. If they want him in the office, he has to jump. If he hadn't been stupid he'd have had to go anyway!

Fair point I guess. Just seems a bit wasteful on time and money.
Still they're certainly getting him sweating about it.

One useful thing I was taught as a lad

Don't poo in your own nest.

Negative Facebook comments about work is a spectacular and public example of this.

Interesting one.

A few years ago I worked for a BIG company. The internet had just come up on people's desktops, and IT ran some new software, caught a couple of guys with adult entertainment in the logs.

Numpty 1 - owned up, sacked on the sport, gross misconduct.

Numpty 2 - swore blind it wasn't him, somebody must have jumped on his machine when he was in the loo. Disciplinary for leaving his machine logged on, probation, still in job.

Facebook comment that is 1. not on work machine 2. outside of work hours. Facebook well known for shonky security.

Numpty 2 defence could have worked here but too late I guess...

How many people are considering leaving FB as a result of this thread?

I am VERY careful about what I put up there, but it seems that you may be responsible for what you're friends say and think as well...

I'll think about it for 24 hours, but at the moment, I suspect I am going to delete my account (and twitter too)

I dont give a hoot what i write on facebook.
Then again if you really believe my name is hugh jardon, you deserve a shoeing.

I would have thought an employment tribunal would take a dim view of an employer so overtly using a technicality to get off paying him redundancy.
I think being made redundant is a pretty good mitigation for making an ill advised facebook comment, particularly as it didn't directly reference the company and was not done on work time or a work computer. Does he have any other blemishes on his record?

My opinion is that his employer is acting unreasonably. It is just my opinion though, I am no expert.

Bigyinn, I'd suggest your son in law requests a meeting and grovellingly apologises. Saying he is under stress at the moment and didn't mean it literally in that context but a 'bravado' comment.

I must admit, you never bite the hand that feeds you. That is gross misconduct.

Look at it this way, someone on your team or under you refers to his/her employer as a bunch of ****s. Now, how would you take that being referred to as a **** by someone junior to you? If said-employee had a question mark over any aspect of their ability/time keeping etc I'd see the remark in very poor taste.

Apparently there are 3 people who have been suspended on pay about this. My SiL, dinnerlady doris and I assume the original poster.

I suspect there's more to it than a simple 'off the cuff' remark

Now, how would you take that being referred to as a **** by someone junior to you?

Id like to think my shoulders were broad enough... unless of course your looking for the excuse to sack the guy saying it- handed to on a plate i think the saying goes

If they do sack him, he needs proper legal advice pronto, but I'd imagine that if it's being done as a costs saving measure, the threat of an ET or County Court claim against them would be enough to make them cough up a reduced redundancy payment and a reference.

U31, we were discussing this yesterday. MD said she wouldn't want to know what people really thought. I said I'd want to know as I'm open/wear my heart on my sleave with everyone.

Yup. give me a reason for thinking i'm a c word, and if its valid, so be it.
If not, it tells me volumes about the others opinions.

If they do sack him, he needs proper legal advice pronto, but I'd imagine that if it's being done as a costs saving measure, the threat of an ET or County Court claim against them would be enough to make them cough up a reduced redundancy payment and a reference

Or maybe someone doesnt like being referred to as a ****?

You wouldn't call an employee a **** so why expect to soak it up back?

Or is it all $ £ $ £?

Live by your actions, not where there is opportunity to get a kickback.

I've found out today, that this saga is from back in June / July.
It strikes me as a bit odd that it only cropped up 3 months later.
He has been rather apologetic to his HR people already. As far as I can gather yesterdays meeting really didnt establish anything that wasn't already known.
He's been in with the Union guy, so at least he' done that right!

Well done Hora, pat on head.

I was once told by an employment lawyer that you should think carefully about who you name in an employment tribunial. The general gist was to put down as many individuals as possible, as they would all have to turn up to the hearing. This is very costly to the company and has, apparantly, put companies off defending the case and they've just 'paid off' the person making the claim.

Don't know if it's true or not as I've never been in that position myself and don't intend to be if I can help it!

I've found out today, that this saga is from back in June / July.
It strikes me as a bit odd that it only cropped up 3 months later.

You'd hope that they only just found out

IIRC - they're obliged to act as soon as is possible after finding out that something has occurred, they can't drag things up that they initially did nothing about

How the company treat this will depend upon their Ts and Cs and in particular their disciplinary policy / guidelines and their ICT acceptable user policy if they have one. Most should have general provisions that cover this behaviour. I would expect there to be a formal investigation and disciplinary meeting. Depending on how they view it, if it is a decision meeting, the employer should follow ACAS guidelines and grant rught of accompaniement by a union rep or fellow employee. If he is terminated, he should have a right of appeal per the policy. An apologetic tone is called for. Threats of ET tend to backfire. ETs can be expensive for the claimant and based on the information, I would not consider his chances of winning to be good. While some may feel their free speech is being hampered and that it is terrible that you can't write anything on Facebook about your employer without consequence, that's an unrealistic expectation.

Forgive my bluntness but you son in law is the master of his own misfortune. As long as the company are following their on written procedures and assuming these align with ACAS guidelines, I don't fancy his chances of walking away scott free from this incident.

I was once told by an employment lawyer that you should think carefully about who you name in an employment tribunial. The general gist was to put down as many individuals as possible, as they would all have to turn up to the hearing. This is very costly to the company and has, apparantly, put companies off defending the case and they've just 'paid off' the person making the claim.

The cleaner and Doris the receptionist are both stood there saying 'what the **** am I doing here'? 😆

Threats of ET tend to backfire. ETs can be expensive for the claimant and based on the information, I would not consider his chances of winning to be good.

I'm not saying he should make any threats at this stage - he'd end up looking pretty silly if he got let off with a warning. But if he ends up being dismissed without a redundancy payment, I'd say he would be daft not to take legal advice and at least look at the possibility of an ET or wrongful dismissal claim.

Sorry to be so dismissive to the OP's relative - but do most people really not know this is what happens? Rule one of Facebook & work email - never type anything you would not say about a person to their face. If I owned said company I think I'd take it as a prime excuse to rid the company of those with bottom feeder tendencies...

Not just redundancy to worry about but future references too.

Sanny - Member

ETs can be expensive for the claimant

How?

thanks for the advice chaps (and mr sandshoe!)

convert - Member

Sorry to be so dismissive to the OP's relative - but do most people really not know this is what happens? Rule one of Facebook & work email - never type anything you would not say about a person to their face. If I owned said company I think I'd take it as a prime excuse to rid the company of those with bottom feeder tendencies...

Not just redundancy to worry about but future references too.

There is a section written into my contract at the software company i work for stating that "due to the nature of our work we would recommend that you do not post details of your employment to any social networking sites, by doing so you may be in breach of company policies"

It then lists the networking sites - don't suppose you can blame them, slagging off work to your partner is one thing, posting it to FB is just plain stupid. If you don't like where you work i'm sure the doors not locked

TandemJeremy - Member

Sanny - Member

ETs can be expensive for the claimant

How?

If they instruct lawyers?

There is a section written into my contract at the software company i work for stating that "due to the nature of our work [u][b]we would recommend[/b][/u] that you do not post details of your employment to any social networking sites, by doing so [u][b]you may be in breach[/b][/u] of company policies"

So that's perfectly clear then. 🙄