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06 February 2015 / Michael Salter , Chris Bryden
Issue: 7639 / Categories: Features , Employment
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A little bird told me...

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Michael Salter & Chris Bryden discuss the challenges of managing employees’ social media activity

We have written before about the dangers of social media usage by employees and the tensions in the law that arise as a result (see “Beware of the web”, 163 NLJ 7569, pp 9-10). We reviewed a number of cases which had been considered by the courts in which employees had been dismissed after misuse of social media, such as Smith v Trafford Housing Association [2012] EWHC 3221, [2013] IRLR 86 the Northern Irish case of Teggart v TeleTech UK Limited [2012] NIIT 00704_11IT and Preece v JD Wetherspoon plc ET/2104806/10. We concluded that this was an area in which guidance was required, and proposed a number of principles. These included that postings on social media sites in free time from personal equipment should not be covered automatically by a reasonable expectation of privacy, particularly where a complaint had been made; but that this did not justify a trawl of social media for disciplinary

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NEWS
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NLJ this week: Mazur and more—inside the litigation frontline

From blockbuster judgments to procedural shake-ups, the courts are busy reshaping litigation practice. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School hails the Court of Appeal's 'exquisite judgment’ in Mazur restoring the role of supervised non-qualified staff, and highlights a ‘mammoth’ damages ruling likened to War and Peace, alongside guidance on medical reporting fees, where a pragmatic 25% uplift was imposed

NLJ this week: Social media bans for children spark legal dilemmas
Momentum is building behind proposals to restrict children’s access to social media—but the legal and practical challenges are formidable. In NLJ this week, Nick Smallwood of Mills & Reeve examines global moves, including Australia’s under-16 ban and the UK's consultation
NLJ this week: Leasehold reform risks creating ‘forgotten freeholders’
Reforms designed to rebalance landlord-tenant relations may instead penalise leaseholders themselves. In this week's NLJ, Mike Somekh of The Freehold Collective warns that the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 risks creating an ‘underclass’ of resident-controlled freehold companies
NLJ this week: Court of Appeal clarifies when a claim truly begins
Timing is everything—and the Court of Appeal has delivered clarity on when proceedings are ‘brought’. In his latest 'Civil way' column for NLJ, Stephen Gold explains that a claim is issued for limitation purposes when the claim form is delivered to the court, even if fees are underpaid
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The traditional ‘single, intensive day’ of financial dispute resolution (FDR) may be due for a rethink. Writing in NLJ this week, Rachel Frost-Smith and Lauren Guiler of Birketts propose a ‘split FDR’ model, separating judicial evaluation from negotiation
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