Why? 64% of Gen-Y workers now say the quality of benefits packages offered to them impacts their loyalty to their employer.

In addition, 62% say it influences their choice of employer.

That’s according to new Fidelity Generation Y study of U.S. employees ages 22-33.

To retain and attract Gen-Y workers, consider tailoring benefits communication to them. Example: Some companies have created their own Twitter feed to keep young workers abreast of changes and updates to company benefits.

Almost 25% of employees have disciplined workers for activities on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, according to a recent survey by the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE). Despite that, only half of companies said they have a social networking policy or monitor employees’ behavior.

The dangers of social networking misuse include:

1. damage to the company’s reputation
2. leak of confidential information, and
3. harassment (if an employee talks disparagingly about a co-worker, for example).

What does a good policy look like? It should cover two basic elements:

1. Make it clear that employees have no right to privacy when they post on a public social-networking site, no matter where they connect from. If it’s on the site and can be read, it can be used as grounds for discipline.
2. Remind employees that company policies (like anti-harassment) extend to online behavior.

Does your company have a social networking policy? What does it cover? Let use know in the comments section below.

Michelle Simson of the country’s Liberal party was annoyed with the behavior of Dean Del Mastro (a Conservative) during a committee meeting.

In response, she took the not-so-savvy political move of complaining on Twitter — insulting Del Mastro as well, all while staying well under the site’s 140-character limit.

She wrote: “Del Mastro should grow up (not out).” Del Mastro, as Reuters notes, is not a slim man.

Simson apologized, but only after Del Mastro stood up in front of Parliament and demanded she say she was sorry.

Have you or any managers ever caught an employee insulting a co-worker online? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Dana Hanna, a computer programmer from Maryland, recently got married. While at the altar, he added a new step to the ceremony — he pulled out his cell phone to post an update on Twitter. Hanna wrote:

“Standing at the altar with @TracyPage where just a second ago she became my wife! Gotta go, time to kiss my bride.”

He also managed to add an update to Facebook, and had his new wife’s phone ready so she could do the same.

Hanna says the interruption, which was a surprise to the bride, was done both for fun and practicality: “I have a lot of family scattered around the country and we all use Facebook a lot to keep in touch,” he wrote to caption a YouTube video of the ceremony.

Today, HR and benefits pros need to find new ways to connect to their workforce — especially younger, more tech-savvy employees.

One tool that works: Social networking Web sites.

Provide a steady stream of info

Social sites, like Twitter, aren’t just for posting what you’re having for lunch anymore. Companies are using them to boost open enrollment participation and educate employees about their benefits.

Example: Ikea uses Twitter to communicate the details of its health plans. Those administering the company’s plans write as many as 50 tweets at a time and use a Twitter feed to schedule dates and times the tweets are sent out.

Each tweet of 140 characters or fewer is packed with info and contains a link to more information:

• “If I don’t enroll in benefits now, can I do it later? Go here [link provided] b4 it’s too late.”
• “Choosing a medical plan? Costs are lower with an HMO, but you’re restricted on the providers you can see [link provided].”

Get employees more involved

Best Buy is another company that’s embraced social networking.

It launched a contest on its own social networking site — BlueShirt Nation — to boost participation in its 401(k) plan. It encouraged employees to create online videos about what the 401(k) meant to them and post them on BlueShirt Nation.

Result: By the time the contest ended three months later, participation in its 401(k) plan increased from 18% to 47%.

What are some ways your company has boosted participation levels or educated employees about benefits? Let us know in the Comments Box below.

The practice of “friending” on social-networking sites can be a legally dangerous one when it involves a supervisor and a subordinate. Plus, a lot of subordinates think it’s creepy.

The seemingly innocent practice of  sending friend requests to staff via Facebook, Twitter and other sites can trigger a slew of legal claims, including harassment, discrimination or wrongful termination, as well as touch off complaints of favoritism if the boss friends only a select person or persons.

That’s the warning from attorney Michael Schmidt on law.com.

Here’s the source of the problem: Social-networking sites typically are packed with personal information. So, what happens if a friending boss learns TMI — too much info — about a subordinate? That opens the door for an employee complaint that the boss made work decisions, such as promotions, based on the personal information.

The example given by Schmidt:

• Suppose an employee is a member of a gay-rights group.
• Then suppose the friending boss fires the employee because of performance issues.
• The employee then could argue that the boss used the personal information as a basis for the termination.

That’s just one example of many: religious affiliation, age,  political affiliation, health problems. All could serve as a basis for a lawsuit should the supervisor take an adverse action against the employee.

If that’s not enough, consider that in a survey by staffing firm Office Team, 47% of respondents said they don’t want to be friended by their bosses.

The message to supervisors: Don’t do it.

Most frighteningly, 11% of users have Tweeted while driving in the past 30 days, according to a recent survey by Crowd Science. About 30% have done so at some point in the past.

And the finding that is most likely to change the way you read people’s posts: 17% said they’ve updated Twitter from the toilet.

The survey also found that 8% have done so from a movie theater, and 31% from a restaurant. Possibly the saddest finding: 41% of Twitter users prefer to contact their friends via Twitter than over the phone.

Given those situations, do you think many of your company’s employees spend a lot of time on Twitter while working?

The biggest mistake is only posting to ask for applicants, like saying “IT manager needed” or “Any sales pros out there?”

Instead, post often and give the audience an idea of what it’s like to work at your company. Look for tidbits that would make a reader want to be in your office.

Here are some specific ideas for recruiting-minded Twitter posts, according to recruiter Jessica Lee:

1. Employee programs – Even if there’s nothing new in the works, spend some time regularly explaining telecommuting initiatives, volunteer efforts and other programs and benefits.
2. Career advice – Turn your Twitter into a resource for people looking for jobs in your industry. Even if you aren’t hiring right now, you’ll have a built-in following of qualified people once you announce an open position.
3. Links to articles by employees – Give candidates some info about who they could be working with.
4. Description of a good candidate – Let people know what you’re looking for in an applicant or interviewee. That will help candidates prepare beforehand.
5. Events and appearances – Let followers know when and where people from the company will be speaking and about recruiting events you’ll be attending.
6. New hires – When you’ve filled a position, share it with the audience. It shows you are hiring, as well as how proud the company is of its new employees.
7. Links to employees who Twitter – Recruit current employees to write positively about their jobs and provide links to their profiles from your account.

That’s the kind of talk recently discovered on the Twitter page belonging to a CareerBuilder salesperson.

The page was deleted after several bloggers reported on the snafu. But while it existed, it contained a few noteworthy quotes, including:

• “People really annoy me… especially those i’m trying to get to buy stuff.”
• “OK seriously, this man needs to sign his contract. Whatever meeting he’s in right now better be about buying CareerBuilder products.”
• “I’m really sick of my clients right now.”

Sound like someone you would want to buy from?

There’s no word on what, if any, action CareerBuilder took. What would your company do if a manager found an employee publicly insulting customers? Let us know in the comments section below.

Maybe you haven’t encountered any problems with employee posts on Facebook, MySpace and the like. The question is: Should you wait till you have a problem?

Consider the numbers — and the odds that your organization will have a problem:

• About half of all adults in the U.S. have a Facebook or MySpace account.
• The number of people using Twitter has grown by 1,300% in the past 12 months.

So it’s a pretty good bet that some of your employees using those sites at some time or another, and for who-knows-what.

Further, a study by Deloitte of 2,000 workers nationwide showed:

• 74% of employees who responded said they were aware that such sites make it “easier” to damage an employer’s reputation.
• 53% said their networking pages weren’t an employer’s business; that number rose to 63% for employees in the 18-to-34 age bracket.
• 17% said their companies had policies regarding posts to social-networking sites.

It’s another matter altogether whether you have the time and resources to monitor employee activity — at work or at home — on such sites and how postings might affect your company’s reputation.

Still, you can have in place a simple policy that gives you the authority to take steps should you somehow uncover a damaging entry. And having a policy removes the “I didn’t know” excuse if an employee does post something damaging.

So, what should a policy look like? Generally, the less complicated the better. In fact, yours can boil down to two main parts:

1. Establish that employees have no right to absolute privacy when they post on a social-networking site. And it doesn’t matter where they connect from. If it’s on the site, it can be read. And it can be used as grounds to discipline an employee.
2. Remind them that the policy extends to instances of harassment, discrimination and any other behaviors that are barred by law or company policy.

Don’t forget to note that the company has no desire to play Internet cop or keep employees from enjoying social-networking sites. The policy is in place to protect the company and its employees, not to prevent people from using the Web sites in usual, harmless ways.

Here’s an example of one company social-networking policy.