Employers should allow staff to take time out at lunchtime to use websites such as Facebook, solicitors and trade unions have said.

Colman Coyle LLP and the TUC have said that companies which allow their staff a break to browse social networking and other internet sites are doing the "sensible" thing.

The advice comes after many firms, including the Metropolitan police, Transport for London, LloydsTSB and Goldman Sachs, have reportedly banned employees from using the Facebook website at work.

However, the TUC said that those completely banning sites during the working day were living in the past and were "unable to get their heads around the new technology." It also accused those doing this of "over-reacting."

Instead it suggested that employers who are "aware that their staff might spend much of their waking hours in work and lead busy lives" should be " trusted to spend a few minutes of their lunch break accessing social networking sites and making plans with their friends."

In guidance available on Worksmart, its working life website, the TUC advises employers to put in place and discuss policies that cover the use of email, the web and blogging at work.

The TUC’s advice was echoed by employment lawyers who described it as a " sensible" idea that would "satisfy employees."

David Malamatenios, employment law specialist at Colman Coyle LLP, told Computeractive: "As long as it doesn’t jeopardise computer systems or staff productivity, it is a good idea to allow employees access to certain, inoffensive sites during their lunch break."

He said that any efficient or reasonable employer should have a set of guidelines that tell staff exactly what kinds of internet use and blogging were acceptable.

However, he also warned that employers that had such guidelines in place would find it easier to discipline staff who use the internet inappropriately. With clear guidelines in place, he said, employers would be "justified in taking action" when the guidelines are breached.