Facebook Can Cost Employers

A new British study estimates that employees spending time on social networking sites could be costing employers over $250 million a day.

Social networking sites – a blessing or a curse? It all depends on which side of the desk you’re sitting.

It’s no secret that employees use work time to organize their social lives; it’s always been that way. These days, however, many of them do it by spending time on social networking sites. But, according to a new study by employment law firm Peninsula, based on 3,500 UK companies, that could be costing employers $250 million a day and 233 million hours a month.

Peninsula has called for the banning of social networking sites like Facebook in the workplace.

"Why should employers allow their workers to waste two hours a day on Facebook when they are being paid to do a job?" asked Mike Huss, director of employment law at Peninsula. "Thefigures that we have calculated are minimums and it’s a problem that I foresee will escalate," he said.   The use of social networks during the work day has been a subject of contention inBritain lately. Some firms see it as a motivational tool, but others have cracked down. Just last month, the Kent County Council placed a ban on Facebook in theworkplace, calling it “time wasting.”   But the powerful Trades Union Congress (TUC) is suggesting a more conciliatory approach. It feels thatalthough employers can ban the sites on work time, staff should be able to access them in their breaks.   Peninsula’s Huss is more hardcore in his approach.   “If a company canpolice the system, and only allow limited access during lunch breaks then that is fine. However I think it would be easier and less expensive to ban access altogether.”   The odds are,though, that even if such sites are banned at work, employees will still find a way to access them.