A council has approved new guidelines for staff which bans them from making derogatory remarks on social sites like Twitter and Facebook.

The rules, approved by a committee of Aberdeen City Council on Thursday, means staff could lose their jobs if they make offensive comments on public online sites about work, colleagues or council policy.

Liberal Democrat councillor Ian Yuill succeeded in amending the wording of the new guidelines relating to social media and appealed for a “common sense approach” when dealing with such matters.

Union officials had shared concerns that it could mean employees would be unable to voice an opinion about council policies with Unite spokesman Tommy Campbell saying it would “effectively gag staff”.

The new guidelines say it is “unacceptable to make, publish or post defamatory or generally unacceptable comments, views or information about the council, its employees, clients or customers (including school pupils) in any medium including social networking sites.”   

The guidelines will apply even when council employees are at home and on their own computer.

Councillor Yuill said: “This wording better sets the scene for balancing your right as a citizen against your responsibilities as an employee of the council.

“There has been an unnecessary focus on social networking sites – these guidelines are not about where you say it but what you say.”

Labour councillor George Adam asked how it would be decided if a comment was suitably offensive for action to be taken.

Council leader Callum McCaig, the committee’s convener, and council director Stewart Carruth said such instances would be judged on a “case by case basis” and on the basis of what a “reasonable person” would find offensive.

Councillor McCaig added that he felt offering a list of what conduct is and is not acceptable would be problematic.

Councillor Yuill added: “It is all about what is reasonable and a reasonable person will be able to work out if something is offensive. I would urge people to think before they write something which could be deemed offensive or defamatory.”

Councillor John West added: “In terms of unacceptable comments, I would hope if something was in a slightly grey area, I would like to think it would be sufficient for our staff to be asked to moderate their language in future and would never result in instant dismissal.”