It is not just in the run up to Christmas that it is important for businesses to control what their employees post on social media. The risks to reputational damage and embarrassment can happen throughout the whole year.
The latest case to demonstrate these risks was the sacking of Coronation Street actor Marc Anwar, for allegedly making racially offensive tweets, seen by thousands.
The question whether a dismissal would be far, takes into account a number of factors, such as whether the posts were seen by such a large platform, whether they could be easily traced back to the employer, or were not obviously damaging their reputation. Problems can also arise when they are about colleagues or clients. To avoid such risks, prevention is better than the cure – have a well drafted social media policy in place, making it abundantly clear to employees what will not be permitted and that if they breach the policy, it will result in serious disciplinary action. Obviously make sure it is communicated to them, that way it will give employers good evidence to rely upon if and when things go wrong.