Welsh bureaucrats busted for getting political on Twitter, Facebook
Three Welsh civil servants were slapped down last year for giving out their opinions on social media, a Freedom of Information request from the BBC has revealed. One public servant got a slapdown for posting a comment about Government policy on Twitter, a second tweeting bureaucrat criticised a government consultation and a …
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Erm...
"Should have done it in Welsh, nobody would have known" - a touch ignorant
Anyone caught slagging a colleague off on social media should be instantly sacked, as it's totally unprofessional.
However bosses who try to force staff to hand over passwords to any personal accounts, should be sued.
Re: Erm...
"Anyone caught slagging a colleague off on social media should be instantly sacked, as it's totally unprofessional."
It should be taken in context and relative - slagging someone off on Facebook with permissions set to your friends is no different to doing it in person and obviously shouldn't lead to dismissal. However, doing it on a public forum or publishing it online for all to see should carry the same weight as publishing it in a newspaper or going on TV and saying it.
The UK Civil Service has a code governing honesty?
I wonder what it says?
Re: The UK Civil Service has a code governing honesty?
"Don't get caught" ?
Re: The UK Civil Service has a code governing honesty?
"Don't get caught" would be my guess.
That's why....
....I save all my really controversial views for ElReg comments......
Re: That's why....
Nice one! And it is too why I save all my shit talking for here as well - I think El Reg should be provided to these dudes as part of their occupational health/stress relief regime.
Seriously?
"laws forbidding bosses from asking for social media passwords. ®"
If a boss of mine ever asked for my passwords I tell them where to get off.
Mind you, I might exchange them for the number of his bank account or his 17 year old daughters' phone number (assuming she was hot of course).
This must be a joke right? I know I haven't had my morning coffee yet but I can't imagine anyone asking me for my passwords.
Beth wyt ti'n meddwl?
"nobody would have known"
ocei, mae mwyafrif y Cymry yn rhy gall i wastraffu amser ar Trydar, ond byddai rhywun wedi sylweddoli, rydw i'n siwr.
[a dydy defnyddio iaith y nefoedd diim yn syniad da os ydw i'n disgwyl miloedd o bleidleisiau-i-fyny. Ah, wel..]
Re: Beth wyt ti'n meddwl?
Byddai angen i chi gael miloedd o siaradwyr Cymraeg ar El Reg i gael miloedd o hyd-pleidleisiau! (neu bobl a allai ddefnyddio google cyfieithu!!)
Mae yn hyfryd
Re: Beth wyt ti'n meddwl?
Wel, gallaf ddefnyddio Google cyfieithu…
Re: Beth wyt ti'n meddwl?
Doeddwn i ddim yn disgwyl gweld y hen iaith ar El Reg. +1. (Dim ond Sais ydw i.)
Re: Beth wyt ti'n meddwl?
... but I had to get a Google translation before I could give the upvote.
Welsh is easy!
Nid wyf yn y swyddfa ar hyn o bryd. Anfonwch unrhyw waith i'w gyfieithu.
@ Welsh is easy!
My wife and I were both learning Welsh prior to our move to North Wales 7 months ago.
Since getting here however the anti-English sentiment that runs through the place like words in Brighton rock have totally put us off.
Lovely part of the world, ruined by some very grumpy people.
On the other side of the coin, I feel sorry for the Welsh, they get a rum deal from the UK government in general so I can see why they might be grumpy - but we weren't on holiday, we came here to live and to contribute to the economy. No more, I'm heading home.
Required to be neutral...
Naturally civil servants are required to politically neutral in what they do in the course of their job. That's totally reasonable and sane. In the same way all employees are required to drink the company kool-aid and do what the boss says. But outside of work.... you should be able to have whatever opinions you like, so long as they don't actually influence the execution of your job?
I can see that there's a problem if it's likely that a very senior civil servant has an opinion about a political issue that must be based on inside knowledge; in that case they mustn't publicly comment, that's totally reasonable. But some droid from the council? Nah.
Agree entirely, civil servants are mostly human beings (or have met one, or seen a picture of one at least), they shouldn't be expected to not have their own opinions or be prohibited from expressing them outside of work. Thats insanely draconian and intrusive. Telling them not to express their opinions won't stop them having them or reduce the risk of it affecting their work. Good management would stop that. Oh wait, I think I see why they went that route!
"they shouldn't be expected to not have their own opinions or be prohibited from expressing them outside of work"
Indeed not. But equally they should be discrete about who they work for. I post my views on things that involve my employers, but I'm suitably careful not to name them directly, nor to use my real name. And that applies to probably most commentards, including you (assuming your parents didn't register your birth in the name of Rampant).
I understand what you are saying but I'm not completely sure I agree, at least in principal. Is a company really affected by it's staff expressing their views? Perhaps to some degree, but I would suggest that companies manage to survive quite well after serious screw ups (cadbury's and ecoli, tesco's fresh meat scandal not the horsemeat one, hsbc's dodgy dealings with tax evasion and helping launder money and many many more) so how much damage can a pleb do by expressing an opinion? Company execs cause huge amounts of damage to a companies reputation through piss poor management, collect a handsome salary, rebrand and it's all good the following day yet one poor sod can topple an empire with a rant on fb? I'm not convinced.
How different it is that I post a comment on my fb page with my employer listed vs unlisted but where everyone knows who I work for anyway.
Not trying to be argumentative, I just think I can see both sides of this one and I think I would come down on the side that says the bigger harm is in restricting a persons ability to express their views. I just don't see that it is something a company \ employer can have a right to control outside of work. Unless they wish to pay me 24x7 perhaps.
As for anonomity and my employer, technically I am my own employer :-) but I do prefer a firewall lest my clients find out I am a closet nerd ;-)
In reality it's more to do with being a private person, but you are correct, it's a useful precaution and can serve many purposes.
Where I work most of those given slaps on the wrist made no mention of the employer or the work we do. Its in the Civil Service code that we can't do anything that bring the civil service into disrepute. One girl got fired a few years ago because a video of her having sex taken on a mobile phone went viral, had nothing at all to do with work.
How to speak Welsh
1. Swallow a bicycle peddle
2. Try to speak in English
Re: How to speak Welsh
You forgot Step 0: Learn English first, in particular the difference between "pedal" and "peddle"
Re: How to speak Welsh
Okay, we'll have a quick whip round to buy you a bicycle pedal and we'll see if you can indeed speak Welsh with it shoved down your throat...
Re: How to speak Welsh
Its fun to laf at Welsh becoz inglish is so strate forwud...
Re: How to speak Welsh
Ooh a spelling flame from someone with a thin skin. How will my ego survive?
Social Media
A communicable disease.
Some people should just abstain.
Optional
But apart from sheep, hills and gold, what have the Welsh ever done for us?
Heb iaith, ni cheir meddwl
But having [any] language is not a sufficient condition.
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