Unions say bosses should allow social networking at work

Employers should respect their employees right to use social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace on the job, according to the Trades Union Congress (TUC) - a federation of most unions in the UK.

The TUC has issued guidelines for employees, as well as for employers (pdf), designed to encourage tolerance of such sites in the workplace. It's an interesting example of the consequences of online living - we increasingly take our personal lives into what used to be impersonal spheres.

As I noted in a previous post, some research has suggested that employers should tolerate non-productive use of the web at work to maintain overall happiness and productivity.

The TUC notes that a "number of employers have moved to ban use of Facebook at work". But I know of at least one example that shows how an employer can benefit from social networking.

A friend works for a 'magic circle' city law firm in London. Because all web-based email sites are blocked, employees have piled into using Facebook instead. The IT department blocked that too, only to unblock it quickly at a senior lawyer's request. Apparently Facebook had become a useful way to maintaining client relationships.

Is that just the exception that proves the rule? Or have other people encountered employers willing to tolerate, or even promote, online social networking?

The TUC's advice page tries to answer this question: "Should I accept a Facebook friend request from my boss?" It also suggests that "this is going to become one of the big battlegrounds of office etiquette". So, how long until we see the first strike action over social networking?