These days, many employees are connected to their friends, family and even co-workers via social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Many employees think of these sites as a safe place to vent about their frustrations, but that may not be the case.

Fox Business reports on the case of Dawnmarie Souza, whose employment with the American Medical Response was terminated when she posted a long string of expletives about her boss on Facebook. Souza and the National Labor Relations Bureau sued the AMR, and the case was settled out of court.

Is it right for employers to snoop on employees' Facebook and Twitter accounts? Many workers think their bosses cannot read these posts, but a quick search engine query can often lead managers straight to employees' social networking presences. Although it may be uncouth to deliberately check up on employees' pages, employees should not assume that these postings are private. As a manager, you can help prevent these kinds of cases by encouraging employees to come directly to you with complaints, concerns and worries rather than venting on Facebook, where such statements can easily be taken out of context.

There is one area, however, where it is not only easy but acceptable to keep track of your employees - keeping track of their attendance. Using software like Call the Time, your employees can check in from anywhere using their smartphones or landlines. This simple-to-use solution is great way to avoid some of the problems that might have later bubbled up in Facebook statuses.

What to do with a deadbeat worker

Motivating your employees to do their best work can be hard, especially in an economic downturn. If your employees work remotely, rather than in an office, the task can become almost impossible. So what can you do to encourage stellar performances from all your workers?

We all know what its like to work with a deadbeat - somebody who does just enough work to not get fired, but never puts in the extra time and effort to do a great job. A deadbeat employee is always treading the line between success and failure, which makes it difficult for employers to terminate their time at the company, since they always seem to be on the verge of turning it around.

However, nothing is going to change if you don't get involved and communicate your feelings to the employee. It is important that you lay out the expectations for him or her, making it clear that if they are not met, the worker will be let go. Be sure to define specific metrics, such as a certain number of hours spent working each day, a specific time that the employee must begin work and a certain number of items to be tackled each day.

There are many applications and software programs that can make keeping track of these metrics easier for you, as the employer. One valuable tool is Call the Time, an easy-to-use software solution that lets employees check in from anywhere using smartphones or landlines, allowing managers to keep track of their hours worked, average start times and more.