Evidence drawn from social media is playing a bigger role in workplace disputes.
According to lawyers working for the UK’s leading online site for free legal advice Law on the Web, information gathered from social media is cropping up more frequently in employment disputes and tribunals.
In many case the information is used to discredit or disprove claims made by employees.
Based on their experience, the employment law team at Law on the Web has compiled a list of the top seven things an employee can do with social media that could result in disciplinary action or their being sacked. These social media fails include:
1. Criticising your boss in a public forum like Facebook.
2. Claiming to be ill or at a funeral, then post pictures of yourself at Glastonbury Festival.
3. Circulating pornographic material.
4. Videoing or photographing yourself doing something illegal, stupid or dangerous in the workplace.
5. Blogging about your employment.
6. Criticising customers.
7. Sharing confidential information
Law on the Web is the leading provider of legal information and legal assistance to millions of UK visitors. Its Instant Law Line team handles thousands of legal queries every year about the workplace
Jayne Nevins, solicitor and spokesperson for Law on the Web said:
“Social media is very much the Wild West of employment disputes. With more and more of us using social media regularly, it’s increasingly being used as evidence in disputes – and the rules are having to be developed pretty much on a case-by-case basis.
“People need to think very carefully about with whom they share at work. We’ve seen many cases in which people have shared with colleagues, only to find that those colleagues have disapproved of the employee’s behaviour and have brought the social media content to their management’s attention.”
For more information, visit lawontheweb.co.uk
