Facebook abuse by workers is costing UK companies £132m a day, according to research by Peninsula, the employment law firm.

The research also shows that 233m hours are lost a month due to workers wasting employers’ time on social networking sites such as Facebook. The problem will cost employers £30.8bn per year and is to escalate.

Mike Huss, employment law director at Peninsula, says: “Why should employers allow their workers to waste two hours a day on Facebook when they are being paid to do a job?

“Employers should have clear policies in place that spell out to workers what they can and cannot use the internet for. They need to define what is and what’s not acceptable during working hours. Bosses should continually remind staff that abusing company facilities such as accessing Facebook in company time is simply not tolerated. Repeated abuse may result in the employer taking action whenever anyone oversteps the mark,” explained Huss.

“Employers should take action now, either carefully monitor facebook use or ban it completely, otherwise it could escalate into a serious productivity problem.”

* See Advice Shop in forthcoming Recruiter issue, 19 September