Are Your Employees Behaving Badly Outside of Work? (And What Should You Do About it?)

We all like to think that our employees know how to behave during work hours, especially if they're in an office-based setting. After all, societal norms dictate that anything improper would likely be frowned upon by their co-workers, not to mention employers.

However, do they extend this propriety to outside the office? In this always-on era where people live their lives through social media, it's easier than ever before to see what your workers are doing at almost all times - and that potentially includes the bad as well as the good.

So, with employees' conduct now able to find its way onto your radar and into the workplace, what should you do if what you see is less than desirable? Here, we'll take a look at the issue and how it might be managed.

Taking action on misconduct

There’s undoubtedly a fine line between acting upon freedom of speech and behaving badly, but many real-life cases have shown that employers have frequently been forced to step in and judge for themselves when it has been crossed.

After all, failing to act could result in contracts being lost, sponsorship deals being pulled or damage to a business's reputation, none of which are desirable at the expense of turning a blind eye.

For example, United Airlines fired a flight attendant in December 2021 after she posted TikTok videos of herself in the company uniform in which she shared industry secrets to the general public.

In the UK in June 2020, an aerospace manufacturer dismissed an employee for flying a banner proclaiming 'white lives matter' over the Etihad Stadium.

And, in perhaps one of the most serious misconduct cases in recent times, Manchester United Football Club had no choice but to suspend 20-year-old forward Mason Greenwood over allegations of rape and sexual assault that occurred in his personal life.

What does the law say?

Although not all cases of bad behavior will be as serious as this - and indeed, most will hopefully not involve potential criminal misconduct - it's important to remember that they can still reflect badly on the organization and warrant disciplinary action being taken.

Managers should therefore consider whether there’s a link between the bad behavior and the employee's job, particularly when it comes to their conduct harming their employment of the organization.

Questions to think about include:

• Was the conduct incompatible with the business' values?
• Was there a negative impact on other employees?
• Did the actions undermine trust, whether between the employer and employee or the business and its clients?
• Could the behavior damage the organization now or in the long term?

Whether it’s making inappropriate comments on social media, drinking to excess at a social event or dealing with illegal substances, employers need to think about the incident, its seriousness and the consequences when deciding if disciplinary action is necessary.

What to do when bad behavior does occur

Should poor conduct need to be dealt with, remember not to implement a knee-jerk reaction and instead to look carefully through contracts and disciplinary procedures before deciding what to do next. Clear documentation detailing the bad behavior and outlining reputational damage should also be collected.

That being said, it's important to remember that if unsavory behavior is not criminal, seems to be a one-off and has no bearing on the employee's ability to do their job, managers are likely to find it difficult to justify using disciplinary policy, particularly to the extent of firing those involved.

In all of the examples quoted above, the employees' actions threatened damage to the reputations of their employers and so there was no choice but to dismiss or sideline them.

However, if this is not the case, acting too harshly may result in a claim for unfair dismissal - a simple verbal warning may be all that is needed.

Prevention is better than cure

Being proactive about bad conduct is always better than being reactive, so why not avoid all of the HR nightmare detailed above wherever possible by ensuring your employees are more likely to behave well in the first place?

You could consider:

1. Developing a social media policy that outlines what the company deems inappropriate and cites specific examples (such as mentioning the company name in a personal blog or posting photos of the office on Facebook)
2. Creating a fresh employee handbook that clearly defines acceptable standards of behavior and boundaries
3. Updating the disciplinary policy to reflect the ways in which online activities and records have changed in the past 15 years

By being clear and stating upfront what you expect of your workforce, you should ensure they behave just as well in their own time as they do in the office - and if they don't, then perhaps they're not as good a fit for your organization as you thought.