Boss uses Facebook to catch skiving worker

Facebook and other social sites have often been mentioned as potential hot beds of uncovered potential candidates. However, just as often it has been mentioned how candidates should be wary of what they put on these social sites as potential employers or even current employers may well use the site as a way to check up on employees.

Just as Kyle Doyle appears to be finding out: -


A call centre employee has been caught malingering after his boss checked his Facebook status.
Kyle Doyle, 21, is currently facing an internal investigation after he called in sick for work then updated his Facebook status bar to read: 'Kyle Doyle is not going to work ... I'm still trashed. SICKIE WOO!'.

Unfortunately for Doyle his boss was also a friend on Facebook and saw the incriminating status report.

He emailed Doyle and requested a doctor's note to prove that a sick day was required, without mentioning the Facebook entry but saying that his line manager was under the impression that the day off was not for medical reasons.

"My leave was due to medical reasons, so you cannot deny leave based on a line manager's discretion, with no proof, please process leave as requested," Doyle replied.

The manager then revealed that he had seen the Facebook message and said the day off would not be granted. "HAHAHA LMAO epic fail. No worries man," was Doyle’s response.

However, the emails between the two soon started to be circulated around corporate email systems and then worldwide. Doyle now faces an investigation by his employer AAPT, Australia's third largest telecoms operator.

"It's unfortunate because it was in the public domain,'' an AAPT spokeswoman told the Australian newspaper The Daily Telegraph.

"It involves one of our employees and we're doing an internal investigation, but I can't comment any further because of the nature of what it's about.

The case highlights the increasing use of social networking sites by management. Interviewers and head hunters are checking out user profiles of applicants, and managers are using them to keep updated on employees.

* - Article taken from www.vnunet.com

Labour address

Labour MP Andrew Miller on Monday urged IT/telecoms and engineering/technical recruiters to “keep your nerve” in the face of a deepening global financial crisis.

Speaking to Association of Technology Staffing Companies (ATSCo) members at a House of Commons reception, Miller said, “There is a determination across the parties to make sure Britain comes out as strongly as possible” from the the economic turmoil. “It has been an extraordinary period,” Miller said of the last three weeks, which have seen investment banks fail and dramatic ups and downs for share prices.

Miller also reiterated his commitment to ensuring that any upcoming directive and legislative on equal treatment for agency workers does not have a negative impact on professional contractors who work through agencies or umbrella companies but instead penalises employers and others who exploit ‘vulnerable workers’. “I’m absolutely convinced it would be wrong to use the legislation to battle these organisations,” he said of the high-end professional services providers. “You have my assurance that is not what is intended.”
* - Article from www.recruiter.co.uk

Not what is intended and what happens can sometimes differ wildly. I hope, seriously hope, that Mr Andrew Miller and the rest of the labour government ensure that professional contractors are not penalised. Due to the HMRC they are already penalised enough.