legal guidlines : social media

DrMystery

Hi, we all know that people's social media posts can get them sacked but I'm interested to know if you can be sacked for a post made before you began your employment & can you be sacked for something someone else has posted

(hypothetical) Example : In 2005 someone posts a video of me drunk at a party to Youtube
In 2010 I start working for a secondary school in a non teaching role
In 2016 my employer is alerted to the video and begins disciplinary procedures against me

Are there any clear legal guidelines on this? Assuming an employer could bring disciplinary procedures against you for something that pre-dated your term of employment and wasn't actually uploaded by you.... you might never work again!!!

surreysaver

Presumably being in a non teaching role, you are not subject to any professional guidelines regarding your behaviour in your private life, unlike a teacher might be, so there's naff all they can do about it?

skintpaul

apply to youtube to get taken it down?

or do a 'right to be forgotten' to google.. if your name gets searched, this item doesnt then show..

DrMystery

Hi ,

Thanks for the replies but my question is more theoretical. Imagine there are images / videos of yourself in embarrassing situations. You have not uploaded them & they were uploaded before your term of employment started.

Legally can an employer bring a disciplinary against you for (non illegal) things they find on the web that occurred before you started working for them.

Xbigman

Hypothetical questions like this are unanswerable. When an employer does it or tries to do it ask again.




Darren

DCFC79

The OP's username goes hand in hand with the questions.

xapprenticex

What I will say is it doesn't matter who uploaded it, its a video of you acting stupid, "I didn't upload it" wouldn't be an excuse.

End of the day, if the school think you are not good for the children then they will get rid of you one way or another. Do as suggested, get the hypothetical videos removed, be careful with alcohol and choose your friends wisely... hypothetically.

patman99

Hypothetically, you could argue that your employer should have carried-out searches for such material prior to employing you.

sangie595

DrMystery wrote: »

Hi, we all know that people's social media posts can get them sacked but I'm interested to know if you can be sacked for a post made before you began your employment & can you be sacked for something someone else has posted

(hypothetical) Example : In 2005 someone posts a video of me drunk at a party to Youtube
In 2010 I start working for a secondary school in a non teaching role
In 2016 my employer is alerted to the video and begins disciplinary procedures against me

Are there any clear legal guidelines on this? Assuming an employer could bring disciplinary procedures against you for something that pre-dated your term of employment and wasn't actually uploaded by you.... you might never work again!!!

There have already been cases of this nature. The employers won. If your behavior brings the employer into disrepute, or it shows conduct that is a bad example for young people, then dismissal may be fair. Teaching or non- teaching. The fact it happened before your employment is not relevant. And you might never work in a school again, depending on what you did. But never working again is somewhat dramatic - unless it shows something very illegal!

I'm trying to figure out of this is homework or (hypothetically) real. If the latter you had better tell us what you did - this could be serious.

Undervalued

DrMystery wrote: »

Hi ,

Thanks for the replies but my question is more theoretical. Imagine there are images / videos of yourself in embarrassing situations. You have not uploaded them & they were uploaded before your term of employment started.

Legally can an employer bring a disciplinary against you for (non illegal) things they find on the web that occurred before you started working for them.

"Legally" an employer "can bring a disciplinary against you" for anything they like!

Unless that disciplinary results in dismissal there is nothing whatever you can do about it. If you are dismissed and have more than two years service you may be able claim compensation for unfair dismissal via an employment tribunal. Whether you win or not will depend on if the employer followed a fair process and, if they did, whether your behaviour was such that a reasonable employer may consider dismissal.

There are no longer statutory processes that must be followed, only a more general requirement to act fairly. Generally an employer would be wise to follow the ACAS guidelines but an alternative process might also be fair.

Regarding social media virtually all employers will have a rule that an employee must not do anything that might bring the employer into disrepute. Even if it is not specifically spelt out it is an implied duty in any employment situation.

Behaviour that brings the employer into disrepute can easily be fair grounds for dismissal even if it took place before the employee was hired.

Helvetica_Van_Buren

DrMystery wrote: »

Hi ,

Thanks for the replies but my question is more theoretical. Imagine there are images / videos of yourself in embarrassing situations. You have not uploaded them & they were uploaded before your term of employment started.

Legally can an employer bring a disciplinary against you for (non illegal) things they find on the web that occurred before you started working for them.

Legally, no. There is no law that covers this scenario.

Contractually, it depends what the contract of employment says about social media use.

That's really all there is to it.