Twitter ye not...

When your employees are on the clock they are being paid to work and so should not be browsing social networking websites. The term 'during the working day' is a little more complicated because this includes designated breaks and lunchtime; because this is technically their free time you cannot dictate their actions, although you can restrict their use of company resources.

Your systems are a business tool so your IT policy should set out what your staff members can use the equipment for and the times at which they can do it. Your first port of call should be to review your internet usage policy. You then need to look at the times during which your staff access social networking sites to determine the nature of the problem. If your staff are using the internet in breach of the policy then that is a disciplinary matter, which is something your policy should state clearly.

Employees are obliged to devote their time and energy at work to the needs of your business. If they are surfing the web to access social networking sites or for any other personal use when they should be working - for instance shopping or banking - then they are in breach of this duty. Again, this is a disciplinary matter as much as if an employee were to sit at their desk reading a magazine or making personal calls.

If you have previously allowed staff members to go online during their allocated free time and this is when they are accessing social networking sites then you need to consider how and why you want to change this policy. Companies often restrict access to social networking sites because of the potential exposure to cyber-threats as well as the drain on network resources. If there is a threat then inform all staff that they will not be allowed to access these sites because of the risk to the systems.

When you inform staff of the restrictions and the reasons behind them, make clear that this is a management instruction and that anyone found breaking or attempting to break it from the date of the inception will be subject to disciplinary proceedings.

You cannot control what employees choose to write on their own web-space outside work. Normally, you have no say in any staff member's actions outside of and unconnected to work, however, you can remind employees of their obligation not to bring the company into disrepute and that any comments posted in the public domain are subject to this obligation. State in your IT policy that negative comments made about the company in the public domain will be subject to disciplinary procedures - though be careful that your definition of 'negative' is clear and not too broad. Inform your staff that, in addition to disciplinary action, derogatory comments posted in the public domain can be subject to libel action in the County Court.