EMPLOYMENT law specialists in Liverpool are being contacted by scores of companies concerned about staff use of social networking websites such as MySpace and Facebook.
Thousands of workers regularly log-on to networking sites – which allow users to create their own profile page, add photographs and chat to friends.
However, the content of sites such as Facebook, which has millions of people registered on it, is rarely monitored by managers.
Experts at Employment Law Advisory Services said the increasing popularity of sites, such as Facebook and MySpace, would inevitably lead to problems for bosses.
Peter Mooney, spokesman for ELAS, said: “Most contracts nowadays have a clause which restricts internet use to business use only. Unless you can argue it is an important work tool, people should not be accessing these sites during work time.
“A manager could quite easily sack someone if they caught them using these social networking sites during office hours.�
Clare Young, employment specialist at DWF’s Liverpool office, agrees that workers’ antics on the internet are causing employers increasing concern, but dismissal is not necessarily the answer.
She said: “Social networking sites such as Facebook and YouTube allow disgruntled staff the opportunity to bad mouth their bosses to a worldwide audience, or damage the company's reputation through silly stunts.
“Video clips of firefighters and builders playing pranks have sparked worries about the health and safety of their organisations.
“Horseplay can certainly be cause for concern and employees should be discouraged from posting anything detrimental on the internet. Employers should ensure that their disciplinary policies and IT policies take account of these new kinds of misconduct.�
Ms Young cites the outcome of an employment tribunal, where a supermarket manager was sacked by Somerfield on grounds of misconduct for posting a video clip on YouTube showing an employee hitting another on the head with a plastic bag.
The tribunal awarded him over £2,000 compensation for unfair dismissal. It said the footage could not have indic- ated a lack of concern for health and safety as the super- market claimed, and there was no evidence he had brought the firm into disrepute.
She added: “This case is a reminder that employers are still expected to be reasonable and fair. Don’t be tempted to fly off the handle but consider carefully the most appropriate course of action.�
A recent poll revealed that two thirds of top London companies are now banning or restricting the use of internet site Facebook over fears that staff are wasting time on it.
A study found British users spend on average 191 minutes a month on Facebook and dozens of people have admitted to “Facebook addiction�, where they check the site compulsively.
Firms including British Gas, the Met, Lloyds TSB and Bristows law firm have all had internet filters preventing sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Bebo and Hotmail being viewed at work.
The internet site, which now has 4m users in Britain, was set up in 2004 by 23-year- old American student Mark Zuckerberg.