social media isue....

Lioness_Twinkletoes

atter wrote: »

-Actually,I'm a she...and as soon as I received the letter,24 hrs after being told not to turn up for work,I retracted reply from colleague.....It wasn't detrimental,it was a reply

Apols for calling you he. Default setting. The comments you made were clearly detrimental - suggesting that their operating systems worked on 'a wing and prayer' is not praise. Employers really hate to be made to look bad and this is exactly what you've done.

atter wrote: »

I put on comment on social media,saying suspended,was asked why,explained and said that system ran on wing and prayer

So you instigated the conversation in the first place. I'd love to know exactly what you said, as I suspect you are now watering down your comments. You should apologise profusely and consider yourself very, very lucky if you hang on to your job. Wouldn't count on it though. Making any comments about your employer on social media is career suicide and really, everybody should know that.

ben_m_g

If I was OP I would check my contract, gross misconduct in my contract includes, bringing the company into disrepute.

If this or something similar is on there, then they may be pushing this, and could terminate.

Undervalued

ben_m_g wrote: »

If I was OP I would check my contract, gross misconduct in my contract includes, bringing the company into disrepute.

If this or something similar is on there, then they may be pushing this, and could terminate.

Indeed.

Even if it is not specifically spelt out then it could easily be argued to be an implied term of any employment contract.

There are proper ways of "whistleblowing" if the circumstances demand it but they don't include bad mouthing on Twitter!

Another_not_new_user

I rather think that, unless I have misread the OP, everyone has missed the point. His "employer" is not his employer! The agency is. Therefore the company can neither discipline nor dismiss him - but they can tell the agency where to stick their worker! There is therefore, no matter what, no case against the client company - they don't employ the OP. They can dispense with their services whenever they wish by informing the agency. And on that basis there is no claim against the agency (assuming they are employed by the agency at all, which they may not be) because they cannot be obliged to provide the OP with this work if the agency client has told them they won't have him.

BoJangles_2

Another_not_new_user wrote: »

I rather think that, unless I have misread the OP, everyone has missed the point. His "employer" is not his employer! The agency is. Therefore the company can neither discipline nor dismiss him - but they can tell the agency where to stick their worker! There is therefore, no matter what, no case against the client company - they don't employ the OP. They can dispense with their services whenever they wish by informing the agency. And on that basis there is no claim against the agency (assuming they are employed by the agency at all, which they may not be) because they cannot be obliged to provide the OP with this work if the agency client has told them they won't have him.

I'm not sure that is clear, I took it that the firm worked at is an agency not that he was placed by an agency...

Another_not_new_user

BoJangles wrote: »

I'm not sure that is clear, I took it that the firm worked at is an agency not that he was placed by an agency...

Possibly. I read it as he worked for an agency and was placed with a communications company.

shopbot

atter wrote: »

-Actually,I'm a she...and as soon as I receieved the letter,24 hrs after being told not to turn up for work,I retracted reply from colleague.....It wasn't detrimental,it was a reply

I'm sorry to hear about your situation.

Whether you thought it detrimental or not discussing a staff suspension is effectively 'Washing the Companies dirty laundry in public'. Staff suspensions never occur for positive reasons and that will fall foul of the Companies Social Media Policy of not bringing negative publicity on Company.

Earlier in the thread there was discussion about whether you had access to or been given a copy of the Companies Social Media policy.
If you haven't your employer is likely to argue that it's an implied term or similar. In other words something so obvious that it doesn't need writing down. They could argue that discussing confidential Company business on a public forum covers this.

The safest way to approach Social Media and Work is to completely separate them.

SB

ohreally

Is the any progression on this?

johnsmithy

atter wrote: »

I work for an agency,within a communications company....a year ago,a new system was introduced,(work itself involves emergency situations)-I was given 1 and quarter hours training.
The system has proplems.which causes errors...An error was made,on my system,I reported it.I wastold 15mins before start of next shjft,I was on suspension pending investigation.
I put on comment on social media,saying suspended,was asked why,explained and said that system ran on wing and prayer-didn't mention,company name,and all in good humour...The initial problem of the investigation has now been swept aside(even though.I was told how serious,it was)and the focus is on the comment....Looks like I will be dismissed-other people who commented,have not been reproached...Very naive of me,as was not told until 24 hrs later that I could not comment about the situation.Any thoughts?

Well, depends on what the comment actually was and how instantly recognisable you were on social media - company might have been concerned that if you used your real name, then that could link you to the company etc. and cause issues.

I had an issue with social media last year where I was accused of posting comments when I didn't, but that's life and I'm due to hand in my letter of resignation next year.

Just a word of advice.... NEVER comment on ANY work issues online unless you are absolutely certain you can't be identified and even then, as you correctly say, mask the company name and anything else and keep comments as vague as possible, but don't comment on confidential issues, either.

Its perfectly fine to comment on work issues if you have a genuine query, but just be careful what you post about.

Best of luck to you. Being fired isn't the end of the world. There will be other avenues.

Heck, I've got my letter of resignation all but ready to write and I'm going to take it into work on Monday and finally be free of stress-filled days at work which are taking their toll on my mental health, so keep your head up. As a wise gal one said, "S*it happens!" You'll be OK, trust me!

johnsmithy

Reggie_Rebel wrote: »

First rule of Social Media - never post about work
Second rule of Social Media - always follow first rule

Even then, you could post something on social media, that isn't work related, yet still bring a company into repute.

Also, add the third rule: NEVER add colleagues or managers as friends on social media, unless you absolutely must do so. There are some circumstances, unfortunately, where it could be necessary.