Unions sound Facebook warning

The 3.5 million people in the UK with a Facebook profile are an accident waiting to happen, according to the Trades Union Congress (TUC). Valid concerns about workers damaging the reputation of the companies they are employed by, as well as wasting time on Facebook and other social-networking sites, have been recognised by the TUC in new guidelines for employers. There is also advice aimed at employees on the TUC's WorkSmart website, where questions such as 'Can an employer refuse to appoint me to a job because of my Facebook profile?' and 'Can my boss stop us using Facebook at work?' are answered. However, the TUC suggests that the best way for companies to deal with the problem is by setting down clear rules about what is and isn't acceptable. TUC General Secretary 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, just because they can't get their heads around the technology. Better to invest a little time in working out sensible conduct guidelines, so that there doesn't need to be any nasty surprises for staff or employers," continued Barber. www.tuc.org.uk

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