Question: I consider Facebook to have information that is personal and that I only share with close friends and family. However, in my new workplace I’ve been asked several times for my Facebook username and/or have been *friend requested* and I don’t want to sound rude by telling them that I don't want to add them as friends. 

Any suggestions on the way I should handle this?

Answer: 
> 
> I’ve been asked several times for my Facebook username
>  and/or have been friend requested and I don’t want to sound rude by
>  telling them that I don’t want to add them as friends.
> 
> 
> 

Easy. Just add them as friends to a “Restricted” list [as explained here](http://www.facebook.com/help/206571136073851):

> 
> When you add someone to your Restricted list, they'll only be able to
>  see your Public content or posts that you tag them in. So if you put
>  your boss on your Restricted list, post a photo and choose Friends as
>  the audience, your boss (and anyone else on Restricted) won’t see that
>  photo. However, if you add a tag of your boss to the photo, we’ll let
>  them know they’re in it and they’ll be able to see the photo. If
>  someone else tries to tag your boss in one of your photos, you’ll get
>  to approve this tag from your pending posts.
> 
> 
> 

More step-by-step details can be found [in this article](http://mashable.com/2013/06/20/facebook-restricted-list/).

That said, adding them to a “Restricted” list might not end the issue when folks realize they do not have access to the full “you” on Facebook. If that’s the case, then there’s no other choice than to just nip the issue in the bud & be honest.

Perhaps just let some co-workers you have a some kind of friendship with be Facebook friends with you & ignore the rest? Your call. But perhaps it’s better to be honest for now than to dance around the issue & let it fester.
I have a simple way of dealing with that.
I have the fortune of having a really good relationship with my workmates, even with the senior one, but since i have a totally uncommon life style, i've decided to not disclose my free time with them.

Since we are Italians, we tend to create strong groups and ties with people we work with, so to not refuse them the friendship on fb, i have created a fake profile as decoy for them.
So my "real" profile is one with a nick name, the "official" one is one with my real name and surname.

I've found it really useful even for online privacy and other social network connection, namely Linkedin, and it also doubles as a self-promotion tool for my working life.

Remember: you'll never be "too much" safe online.