A pregnant insurance broker was recently fired after she spent 10 and a half hours shopping for a pram during work hours – over 15 days.
Paige Mowatt was also caught snooping on her colleagues’ messages, as heard by the employment tribunal, but this isn’t the first time someone has been let go for online shopping during a work day.
Excessive browsing of non-work related materials has hit headlines before.
So, where do you stand when it comes to online shopping?
Deborah Wilkes, director of Enable-HR, tells us it can be a grey area depending on where you work.
‘This depends hugely on the role and the culture,’ she says.
‘Most companies used to take a hard line on this, but the recent seismic changes in how and where we work have pushed this kind of control into a side issue.
‘People want to be treated as adults now, and have earned that right.
‘The line between work and personal life has blurred due to the pandemic and there’s little to gain from making this a big issue. Of course, unless a person’s productivity is inadequate or there are security concerns.’
This sounds reasonable, surely? If you’re getting your work done on time and only browsing here and there, many would say that’s all that matters.
However, if you’re falling behind or using company property to do your shopping, you need to be careful.
Kate Palmer, HR advice and consultancy director at Peninsula says: ‘Everybody loves a bargain, but employees are expected to spend their working time fulfilling the responsibilities of their roles.
‘Online – or any other kind of shopping – should not be done at work, except during designated break times.
‘In situations where staff utilise their working time for personal purposes, such as online shopping, you can take disciplinary action, in line with normal policies and procedures.’
She says in normal cases any concerns here ideally would be addressed directly with an employee before formal action is taken, but if it can be proven you were looking on company time, employers have a right to go straight to formalities.
Kate continues: ‘If there is no reasonable explanation for the employee’s actions regarding internet consumption, an employer may have to go down the route of giving a formal or informal warning, depending on the facts.’
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