Acas, the conciliation service, has published a new report looking at how social networking is influencing relations in the workplace and the conduct of some industrial disputes.
The report “Social media and its impact on employers and trade unions” cites the East Lindsey Refinery disputes where much of the organising was done via websites and enabled a local dispute to spread to over 20 other construction sites across the country overnight.
Protests by UK Uncut and anarchists during the TUC demonstration in March of this year were also the result of large amounts of organising and campaigning carried out through social media.
The paper, with its focus on social media and collective industrial relations, follows on from a research report commissioned by Acas and published earlier this month. “Workplaces and social networking - the implications for Employment Relations” was written by the Institute for Employment Studies and focused on employee use of social media and managers' responses.
Both papers form the basis for Acas guidance on managing the use of social media in the workplace. In particular, it recommends written policies on 'the acceptable use of social networking' so that organisations can:
- help protect themselves against liability for the actions of their workers
- give clear guidelines for employees on what they can and cannot say about the company
- help line managers to manage performance effectively
- help employees draw a line between their private and professional lives
- comply with the law on discrimination, data protection and protecting the health of employees
- set standards for good housekeeping - for example, for the use and storage of emails
- be clear about sensitive issues like monitoring and explain how disciplinary rules and sanctions will be applied
For more information, go to the Acas website