Employers have the right to expect their employees’ full attention during working hours and can generally restrict social media access to prevent time wastage as per employment contract provisions.
However, employee privacy rights must also be considered, both within and outside the workplace, depending on factors like the nature of the activity, its location, ownership of hardware/software used, and consistent policy enforcement.
To resolve such situations, employers should implement a clear and enforceable policy that can specify the extent of social media access during working hours, permit certain useful media, outline acceptable usage in and outside of the workplace, and remind employees of monitoring and ownership policies.