‘Creepy boss' post gets worker wrongly sacked - should HR police social media?

A tribunal found recently that a worker was owed compensation when she was sacked for sharing a Facebook post that a former colleague had written, which described boss Himesh Patel as inappropriate toward female customers.

The tribunal found that the employee, Dimaris Trench, was dismissed unfairly, stating that the punishment was too severe, and that Trench had been dismissed without a proper investigation or right to appeal. In the concluding statements to the tribunal, after which Ms Trench was awarded £3,000 in lost wages from Lincolnshire pub Trebles, the judges said, “She took the Facebook post down very quickly and apologised for it. She did not write the post and was not acting vindictively or deliberately to damage the [bar’s] interests. She made a mistake, for which she paid.”

This raises yet again, the perennial questions of a) whether bosses should be spying on or policing employees’ social media, and b), if there are posts about work, how they should be handled. Certainly, based on the result of this tribunal, it would seem that cursory dismissal is most likely not the best way to handle it – with the big exception being posts that contravene the Equality Act 2010, or show serious antisocial behaviour.

What HR should be thinking about this World Mental Health Day

Mental health has become a big buzz phrase in recent years. You may have noticed that last month, on October 10th, that a lot of your friends and family and organisations you follow, were posting on social media about mental health. And while it’s important to have a day that celebrates transparency and sensitivity about the mental health issues we all may face at some point, it’s also helping raise awareness every day of the year.

Printing and office supplies company Ricoh UK shared its insights with HR Grapevine, giving tips on how to observe this day at work, from Rebekah Wallis, Director of People & Corporate Responsibility and Marco Pezzani, National Customer Service Director.

“It’s more important than ever to take a step back from the day-to-day and consider the bigger picture,” shares Wallis. “An organisation is only as strong as its people, all of whom have their own stories, difficulties, and strengths.”

She continues: “For employers it’s important to understand that dealing with mental health can be a long road and there often isn’t an immediate fix. Accepting this and taking a long-term view by providing support through implementing initiatives focused on wellbeing and mental health can help to open up conversations and remove stigma.”

Pezzani weighs in, saying: “By fostering an environment of support, you can ensure your business isn’t negatively impacting anyone’s mental wellbeing. While this can feel like an intimidating task there are simple, practical steps which can be taken: Set clear boundaries around work/life balance, have check-ins with your teams and proactively reach out to anyone in your team who you feel may seem a little off.”