Employers in the Isle of Man are being urged to give staff firm guidelines on what can be said about the workplace online.

The Manx Industrial Relations Service has seen a sharp rise in queries from companies over potentially damaging comment made by employees on social networking sites, like Facebook and Twitter.

Many firms want to know if workers can face disciplinary action over comments published online.

There have been several cases in the United Kingdom where staff have been disciplined or fired for derogatory comments about customers.

It's a growing area for legal firms' employment departments.

Leanne McKeown, associate at Dougherty Quinn, says preventing the problem in the first place is the answer: