StarHub employee in Singapore gets fired after boss sees YouTube video of him goofing off at the office

Today’s local news talks about a StarHub employee being fired for goofing around while at work: Report: Singapore firm fires worker for YouTube videos of “horsing around” in office . Now, the thing is it’s likely that any young temp worker will be goofing around on the job at some point or other  (not that I’m saying that’s okay…) but what the real issue is is that he got caught, and he got caught big time!

The employee, Terence Tan, and his colleagues were filmed playing around the office and that video was uploaded to YouTube. When his employer found out, he was given a lecture and of course he was ordered to take down the clip. He was also fired for “tainting Starhub’s image and reputation”.

This is not unlike the case I mentioned in my previous posting about the American air stewardess who was fired as she had posted pictures of herself in her work uniform at a party. The airline company thought that she had tarnished the company’s image and used her work outfit in an unprofessional way. 

Not too long ago, there were some YouTube videos posted of our NS boys horsing around in camp, and there was some reaction by the public about how they had brought disrespect to the army uniform. Of course, it goes without saying that while looking at them joking around and playing the fool, one wonders how they can be taken seriously and trusted to protect the country!    

It can be a pretty fine line between what’s acceptable and what’s not, as new media becomes even more pervasive, and both employees and employers alike have to tread carefully as the lines get drawn up.