New report offers practical advice on protecting workers from dismissal over social media posts

Authors Paul Scholey and Daniel Kindell – both of Morrish Solicitors – warn in Social media and the law that the courts are hearing an increasing number of cases in which the dispute between worker and employer revolves around messages posted online or in emails.

The publication examines recent case law to provide an analysis of the factors that typically lead to a decision that a dismissal was unfair, that confidentiality rules were breached, that an organisation’s reputation was negatively impacted or that a worker’s human rights were contravened.

As well as recommending legislative reforms – including to the ‘band of reasonable responses’, a proportionality test that considers only the employer’s definition of ‘fair dismissal’ and not the worker’s – the authors conclude with a practical checklist for unions dealing with social media cases.

Paul Scholey, Partner at Morrish Solicitors and co-author of the report, said: “The cases we reviewed in our research have revealed a lot about which factors have proven important to the courts when making decisions in social media cases. In this book, we’ve laid out those factors in an easy-to-read way and we hope the report can become a manual for unions in protecting their members.

It’s vital that unions stay up-to-date with these trends. It’s all too easy to be left behind by emerging technologies, but when we fail to keep up we leave workers vulnerable.”

Daniel Kindell, Partner at Morrish Solicitors and co-author of the report, said: “There’s a lot of space for union action in these cases, both in terms of preventing social media issues from arising and in protecting workers after the fact. Social media policies can be negotiated, and there are many angles from which a legal defence can be successfully launched.”

The report is available at https://www.ier.org.uk/product/social-media-and-law/ at a subsidised price for union members of just £8 (compared with £30 for non-members).

It can be purchased in hard copy, downloaded as an e-book, or bought in bulk at a significant discount by unions seeking to distribute the information across branches.

Unions should call the IER office on 0151 207 5265 to discuss cut prices for bulk orders.

ENDS

Editor’s Notes
The authors are available for interview.

Paul Scholey and Daniel Kindell can provide further details on the way workers are being caught out by their social media posts and how unions can further protect them.

Contact Sarah Glenister on sarah@ier.org.uk or 0795 179 0736 for queries and interviews

About the Institute of Employment Rights
The Institute of Employment Rights (IER) was established in 1989 as an independent organisation to act as a focal point for the spread of new ideas in the field of labour law. In 1994, it became a registered charity. The IER exists to inform the debate around trade union rights and labour law by providing information, critical analysis and policy ideas through our network of academics, researchers and lawyers.