DS in trouble at work

[Whenisithometime]

Hi

Just want advice.

My son is 18 and I just wanted to ask for other people’s advice regarding a silly incident.

He works in Tesco part time at the weekend. Recently, he posted something on his Facebook, it was something like “would be great if Tesco would close because of coronavirus so I can have some time off”

DS does not have his manager on his Facebook, so somebody on his has obviously told him. His manager rang him and asked him if he could come in sometime this week to speak to him regarding his social media content.

I just think this is shockingly ridiculous. What exactly has DS said that is so wrong? He obviously didn’t mean anything bad by what he wrote. Surely this is an overreaction?

He may not have his employer listed but if anyone knows he works for them (which they obviously do) then that's enough
He probably wont get fired but he needs to go into the meeting, apologise and be aware of why its wrong and to not do it again.

He doesnt need to delete facebook..that's drastic.
I moaned on Facebook about parking at work once.. that was enough for me to have a snide comment from someone saying my manager wouldnt be impressed to hear that.
My manager then "liked" that comment.
Over parking. Off work premises

Companies take social media very seriously.

If he is very, very lucky, they will keep him on, as let's face it, retail is important at the moment, and they are likely to have a lot of staff off sick very soon.
Lesson learned?

To be honest Op, it might be worth you considering your attitude to this situation. You're not helping him if you're saying the same to him as you are here. They will have a social media policy. He might get ticked off. He might get sacked. Whatever the policy the sensible thing is to never, ever comment about your workplace on social media.

I know @TryingToBeBold , I agree. I just think he’s realised he’s badly fucked up.

@Whenisithometime Ill-judged and daft comment to make, but tbh it seems obvious he was joking. And not making light of coronavirus.

I hope he doesn't lose his job. I am sure other people have done (and SAID worse!) Just tell him to grovel, and say he was only joking, and he's really sorry.

He's only 18 FFS, some people need to cut the lad some slack!

He needs to be careful with what he says on social media. There's always some fecker who will dob you in/grass you up. Shame he doesn't know who they are, so he can tell them to fuck off! ghost them.

All the best. I wish him well. Keep us updated!

It was an extremely stupid and immature thing to write. There are plenty of ways comments he puts on FB could have got back to Tesco. Plenty of his friends and their families probably shop there.

Hopefully he just gets a strong warning and learns an important lesson. Social media is NOT a safe place to put twatty comments about your employer, whether you name them or not.

I’d use this opportunity to explain to him to read his companies policies and how to use social media responsibily op and in an adult manner. And to understand the severity of situations like corona virus.

Hopefully he just gets a ticking off. And he grows up a bit. Sitting crying about it isn’t great either, he’d better off thinking though how to handle the situation with his manager, like a grown up.

He'll at minimum get a massive bollocking.

He may not have mentioned Tesco but someone else could share the post and say "Look what my mate who works at Tesco said". Real people know he works at Tesco

If you do a search there's a lot of cases of people being sacked for this. I have an 18yo so understand that they can be impulsive and naive but he needs a reality check. Lots of people in retail are going to be facing job losses and there's going to be loads of people desperate for a supermarket job. My son works in retail too and I'm in no doubt that things have been insane recently but he needs to learn pronto never to discuss work on social media.

You have to be so careful talking about work on social media. I don't understand the mentality of anyone who reports their colleagues, but it's probably a lesson learned for your son - hopefully a bit of humility and an apology from him will suffice. If he was going to get sacked, he probably wouldn't have been told to come in 'sometime this week'.

He’s not very bright to think he can get away with posting stuff like that.

There’s a video about social media posting that you’re made to watch in your induction and it makes it very clear what the rules are.

When is his next shift, op? Come in sometime next week is a very vague instruction?

Thanks @Shinycat that was a really lovely message x

@Thisismytimetoshine the manager had to check his diary to see when he was free. I think DS is going in tomorrow morning

Irrespective of age it's now one of the crystal clear rules of employment to never post anything that can be linked back to work...even things you think are positive, unless you're on the social media team.

Lesson hopefully learned for your son without too dire a consequence.

I see it as just a joke. I hope he doesn’t lose his job over it, it would be a massive overreaction in my opinion.

Please impress upon him not to make light of it to his manager, op.

How he comes across in the meeting will probably determine the outcome.

Your post is potentially identifying OP unless it's not actually Tesco he works at.

Is there any way he could present it that his words were partly motivated by anxiety, i.e. having to deal with the public and the health risk? If I worked in a face to face customer role I would be praying the place would close, not so I could enjoy some time off but so I could stay well.

He's only 18 FFS, some people need to cut the lad some slack!

If he doesnt understand social media and his employers social media policy, he has no business actually signing a contract and agreeing to the policy.

How can he sign something and actually be employed? If you are claiming he doesnt have the capacity to to understand and abide by it.

I hope he doesnt get sacked either. But saying 'he isnt old enough to understand', isnt really good enough either.

TheMemoryLingers, that will really not come across any better

When is it home time, your son obviously gets his work ethic from you

that will really not come across any better

I'd be more sympathetic to it.

I think he's learned his lesson! I am pretty sure he won't do it again!

@Whenisithometime

Thank you Shinycat, that was a really lovely message.

That's OK. 😘❤️