Social media misconduct at work: Employment tribunal round‑up for HR leaders

By Stephen Simpson, Brightmine Principal Editor

Stay ahead of the risks posed by employee social media use with our expert analysis of four recent employment tribunal decisions.

In today’s always‑online workplace, HR leaders face growing challenges when inappropriate posts, offensive comments or online misconduct spill into the employment relationship. Our latest round‑up breaks down the key lessons from tribunal cases involving dismissals for social media misuse—giving you clear, practical insights to support fair, consistent and defensible decision‑making.

Designed for busy HR professionals, our employment tribunal round-up helps you understand how tribunals assess online behaviour, what constitutes a reasonable employer response, and how to strengthen your organisation’s policies to minimise legal risk.

We examine four employment tribunal decisions concerning the dismissal of employees for social media activities. As first-instance cases, these decisions are not binding on other courts and tribunals. However, they are examples of the dilemmas that employers can face when taking disciplinary action over an employee’s online behaviour.

In this article you we examine 4 employment tribunal decisions:

• Legal assistant fairly dismissed for offensive social media posts
• Fair dismissal of pizza delivery driver over online COVID safety rant
• No compensation for care worker dismissed for discriminatory Facebook posts
• Unfair dismissal over one-off Facebook comment about manager

Explore the must‑know takeaways and ensure your HR team is equipped to manage social media misconduct with confidence.

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