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Employers risk being sued for spying on staff via social networks

London, Sept 2 (ANI): A UK body has warned employers that they could end up being sued for discrimination if they use websites like Facebook to spy on the private lives of their workers.

Acas, the body that helps improve relationships with workers, issued a new guide that urges employers not to be “heavy-handed” by penalising staff for unprofessional comments on websites.

It has also warned employers about the risks of “Googling” potential recruits and using any personal information gleaned from the Internet such as a person’s religious beliefs.

The guide, which took nine months to compile, has been written in response to what Acas describes as the “growing problem” posed by social networking websites.

John Taylor, Acas’ chief executive, advised bosses to be cautious about reprimanding employees for comments they make on social networking websites.

“If an employer is too tough, they need to consider the potential impact of any negative publicity. Heavy-handed monitoring can cause bad feeling and be time consuming,” the Telegraph quoted him as saying.

“A manager wouldn’t follow an employee down the pub to check on what he or she said to friends about their day at work. Just because they can do something like this online, doesn’t mean they should,” he stated.

Acas has advised bosses to draft their own social media policy in order to avoid staff confusion about what is and isn’t allowed online.

Taylor also said employees needed to be cautious about the information they publish online.

“Online conduct should not differ from offline conduct,” he added.

Employees should assume that everything they say on the Internet could be made public, and should think whether they want their colleagues or boss to read it.

“They might not mean it, but what they post could end up being seen by billions of people worldwide,” he added. (ANI)