Facebook made headlines this week: 
The Department of Corrective Services in NSW threatened to sack prison officers, after they made comments on a Facebook group about the government’s plans for the prison sector. Union officials said the threat is unfair and that the officers’ private lives are being invaded. The incident led to a strike on Tuesday.

It’s the latest in a growing number of stories of this nature…

Last year, three California teenagers were fired from KFC after taking provocative photos of themselves at work, and posting them on MySpace;

In February a UK teenager was sacked, after her boss found comments she’d made on Facebook – telling friends her job was boring.
 
And a number of Australians say they’ve been disciplined at work or even fired, over comments made to friends on social networking sites.

Let’s hear your thoughts on this one…

DISCUSSION POINTS

• Is it ok for employers to check up on their employees online – and to sack them for comments that might damage a company’s reputation?

• Are people fair game when they air their grievances online? On Facebook you can choose who gets to see your comments. Should workers just be more careful, and not go quite so public with their secrets?

• Or is this actually an invasion of privacy?

• Maybe employers need to get used to the fact that the internet is simply a new way people are socialising…. Should they respect peoples’ right to talk amongst themselves using the technology?

One lawyer said this week that employers may be breaking the law by firing staff over such incidents … He said if nothing’s written in a contract about this kind of thing, employers have no grounds to discipline their staff over it.

• Should employers be more clear and up front about what they expect of employees in this area?

• Are there any rules about the use of Facebook at your workplace?

• Some workplaces ban employees from even checking their Facebook page at work, because it wastes company time….

• And I’d also like to hear from you about how you use these social networking sites…

• Do you have personal boundaries about what you’ll share online? Are you careful about what’s private and public on your facebook or myspace account?

• Or are you a no-holds barred type of person that doesn’t mind sharing your thoughts and feelings for all the world to see?

• Should employers be allowed to take action over what their employees say and do online?