| |
NewswireTODAY - /newswire/ -
London, United Kingdom, 2012/05/10 - Blake Lapthorn, one of the leading law firms in the UK, is pleased to launch the findings of a client survey it has conducted into the impact on businesses of social media, drugs and alcohol used inside and outside work - BLlaw.co.uk.
|
| |
Social media, drugs and alcohol usage has an effect on the majority of organisations one way or another. It has been widely documented that the trend towards monitoring and dealing with issues arising from that usage has been on the increase for a number of years. Consequently, the debate around how best to deal with this in the workplace continues.
As a result of this, Blake Lapthorn conducted a national survey into the effects these issues have on organisations. The survey received responses from 274 organisations across 12 different sectors, and looked at these three areas where there are concerns around whether or not the demarcation between work-life and private-life has become uncertain. This follows a previous national survey that the firm conducted in 2004 into 'Drug and alcohol testing in the workplace'.
Key findings
despite the documented increase in the use of drugs, alcohol and social media in and outside the workplace, and employer concerns on these issues, employers are not doing enough to protect their businesses
the majority of employers feel that there is insufficient publicly available information/guidance on how to deal with these issues.
General findings
Social media
Most employers are open to the technology but responses on how that access is managed illustrate some contradictory approaches
Over 80% give access for business purposes with 65% allowing personal use, yet only 22% provide any form of training
Only just over a half of the organisations have any form of policy and there is no consistent standard for its content
Most organisations (86%) do not think the use of social media or networking sites by employees outside work has any adverse effect on their work, but around a quarter of employers have found it necessary to take some form of disciplinary action arising from employees’ use of social media
Organisations use social media for business development, marketing and recruitment with around a quarter also using it to vet prospective employees.
So why do employers not only permit but actively facilitate the use of personal social networking by their employees? It is not to encourage recruitment or retention as over 75% of respondents did not think that removing access to social media at work would harm recruitment. Perhaps it is simply accepted that the boundaries between personal life and work are fading and organisations are adopting attitudes and practices that reflect how we live our lives today.
Drugs and alcohol
Employers who conduct drug and alcohol testing is unchanged; only 8% in both 2004 and 2012. This is contrary to the general perception that monitoring their use has been on the increase over the last few years
Drug and alcohol awareness training is also around the same and remains low (9% in 2004 and 13% in 2012) but out of those that do, there is now a much greater focus on training managers
There has been a significant rise in the number of organisations that have written policies on drug and alcohol testing from 19% in 2004 to 36% in 2012. However, the most marked change has been in tolerance levels. Of the organisations that conduct testing, 28% operated a zero tolerance policy in 2004 but in 2012 only 4% apply zero tolerance.
Most organisations think the use of alcohol and drugs by employees outside work has an adverse effect on their work (alcohol 61% and drugs 54%).
As employers believe that drugs and alcohol have a significant impact on work why do they not carry out testing? Curiously, most respondents said it was because they did not think it was an issue for their organisation.
The thinking behind our survey
In 2004, Blake Lapthorn's Employment team conducted a national survey into 'Drug and alcohol testing in the workplace'. At that time, the results indicated that what people did in their personal life was not seen as a major problem for most businesses. Perceptions were stereotyped and provided an employee was not behaving criminally, the demarcation between work-life and private-life was generally viewed as clear.
Over the past few years, Blake Lapthorn's Employment team has dealt with an entirely new range of issues that have directly arisen from the ambiguity of that demarcation between work-life and private-life. Patterns of alcohol abuse have changed and weekend bingers are affecting productivity through poor performance or absenteeism at the beginning of the working week. Drug use is not necessarily an addiction or criminal matter, with legal highs increasingly becoming the recreational drug of choice.
Most significantly of all, social media interactions are no longer restricted to being just outside working hours but are also conducted on social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter throughout the working day – and not necessarily on the employer's equipment. The very public nature of these communications also means that social interactions conducted at home and outside working hours can impact on businesses and therefore the individual at work.
Blake Lapthorn felt that it was time once more to ask about the specific problems organisations are facing and how they are dealing with them. The firm's 2012 survey again dealt with alcohol and drugs, but this time the firm also looked into the usage and control of social media.
Sarah Peacock, a partner in Blake Lapthorn's Employment team who is running this project, said:
"This is a useful piece of research that highlights emerging lifestyle trends that will help employers to plan policies and deal with issues in future.
"Although the boundary between work-life and private-life was beginning to get a bit hazy in 2004, by 2012 it has become decidedly blurred. Organisations can set their own boundaries to make clear what is and is not acceptable use of drugs, alcohol and social media inside and outside the workplace if that affects their business. This can be done through implementing clear policies and by training staff, so they are aware and understand what will and will not be tolerated, and the consequences of not adhering to such policies. This will ensure that all staff are treated consistently and will help organisations protect their businesses."
|
daniel.baber[.]blllaw.co.uk 
