A recent survey indicated that only 31% of Employers have a policy with regard to social networking. Of those, only 15% of employees knew about the policy.

Yet, today, almost every person with internet access will have some connection with social networking, whether it be the most common of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogging etc, or some of the more obscure but increasingly plentiful sites out there.

However, some two recent cases have highlighted the need for considering how it impacts on workplaces.

At a recent conference, Catherine Deveny and her lawyer spoke of her dispute with The Age newspaper. For those who missed the media reports, Catherine was writing a regular column (on a freelance basis) for The Age. She also maintained (entirely independent of The Age) her own Twitter account. Because of a number of what The Age decided were inappropriate posts, they decided that they no longer required her column.

This begs the question, how far could The Age dictate what she said in posts on her personal Twitter account if she had been an employee rather than a freelance writer?

Another recent Victorian case was, perhaps, much simpler. Two employees were dismissed (and ultimately charged with, and pleaded guilty to, offences against OH&S legislation), because of inappropriate posts to their Facebook pages. These showed the two employees 'planking', in very unsafe and inappropriate positions, at the workplace (although the posts themselves were entered after work hours and outside the workplace).

While there is still some grey areas around what employers can do, it is clear that employers can and will monitor employees (and potential employees) social networking and net presence (so far as this is public), and therefore clear policies around this are essential.