The Trades Union Congress has urged employers to allow staff to continue to access social networking sites (such as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo) at work, arguing that a total ban is an overreaction. Approximately 50% of companies block staff access to social networking sites because of the possible impact on productivity and security. "Simply cracking down on the use of new web tools like Facebook is not a sensible solution to a problem which is only going to get bigger. It is unreasonable for employers to try to stop staff from having a life outside work, just because they cannot get their heads around the technology. Better to invest a little time in working out sensible conduct guidelines so that there do not need to be any nasty surprises for staff or employers," said TUC general secretary Brendan Barber.