Employment Partner Jo Mackie comments on the boundaries for appropriate out-of-office replies, and the potential disciplinary consequences of ignoring warnings from one’s employer, in Business Insider.
Jo’s comments were published in Business Insider, 27 November 2024.
“Inappropriate, offensive, or rude messages should never be tolerated, but that begs the question of who decides what is and is not appropriate.
“An ‘out of office’ message is a message sent on behalf of you representing the business you work for. Therefore, you need to have regard for what your employer wants.
“If your employer is sufficiently concerned to raise this with you in conversation and has had to do so three times already, that suggests they are seriously concerned, and you need to take notice. The upshot of failing to ‘follow a wilful management instruction’ in employment law is a disciplinary investigation and potentially a disciplinary sanction. If this continues, there is also scope for an employer to claim there has been a breakdown in trust and confidence between the employer and employee – and that is grounds for a breach of contract claim and may lead to dismissal”.
