How your Work WhatsApp Group Could Get You FIRED
From flirty exchanges with colleagues to shameful messages and offensive jokes swapped with office pals - WhatsApp chats can prove to be a HR nightmare.
But messages are now increasingly being used as evidence during bitter employment tribunals, which has led to more workers being fired.
Among those to have fallen foul includes a primary school teacher sacked for being part of a 'barbaric' WhatsApp group called the 'Nip Clockers' and a cleaner who was unfairly discriminated and fired by her boss over WhatsApp for being pregnant.
The news has fuelled warnings for staff to avoid using the social media app altogether to avoid being sacked.
It comes as the number of tribunals that have referenced the messaging app has almost tripled since 2019, from 150 to 427 hearings in 2023, according to figures from the HM Courts and Tribunals Service.
The data was obtained by law firm Nockolds as employers were warned misuse of the platform could see them having to pay out thousands of pounds in compensation.
NatWest this month announced it was banning staff from using WhatsApp, Skype and Facebook in an effort to stick to rules over workers' use of unauthorised electric messaging as well as to avoid fines.
Lawyers have warned employees could be fired for sending derogatory private messages about their managers or colleagues.
Making jibes about someone's age, sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, or religious beliefs could also land staff in hot water. Jokes about someone's appearance are also 'big risks' as they could be seen as offensive.
Cleaning firm manager Antonia Ogilvie, 29, (pictured) was fired by her female boss while she was pregnant via WhatsApp with the message 'things have been getting too much for you'
WhatsApp messages are increasingly being used as evidence during bitter employment tribunals (file image)
It comes amid a swathe of unsavoury chats were exposed, including a 'barbaric' WhatsApp group that led to a primary school teacher being banned from the classroom.
Matthew Clare, 36, was part of the 'barbaric' 'Nip Clockers' group chat at Engayne Primary School in Upminster, east London, alongside 'three other colleagues'.
In a slew of grossly offensive messages received by Mr Clare, female colleagues were branded as 'kinky s***s', 'pure filth' and 'f***buddy material', the Teaching Regulation Authority (TRA) said.
One comment comparing the figures of two different female teachers, sent to Clare by an unknown member of the group, read: 'She top (redacted) on the filthy scale… She's be a dirty f***'.
Another homophobic jibe received by Clare referred to a colleague as a 'skin head carpet muncher' while other posts discussed what they thought might be colleagues' preferred sexual positions - with the vile chat leaving shell-shocked staff at the primary 'appalled'.
A misconduct hearing carried out by the TRA heard that Clare admitted the messages gave the impression he was regularly ogling his female colleagues breasts.
One read: 'Clocked the Ns massively coming on from lunch. This cold weather.'
Clare has now been banned from teaching while all the others involved in the chat have resigned from the primary - with one of the disgraced educators now teaching at a new job at a London prep school.
Matthew Clare, 36, was banned from teaching after becoming involved in an offensive WhatsApp chat called Nip Clockers. He worked Engayne Primary School, in east London (pictured)
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In a separate case, a pregnant cleaner who was sacked by her female boss with the message 'things have been getting too much for you' was awarded a £25,000 compensation payout.
Antonia Ogilvie, 29, was dismissed by Kendra Mann after going off sick with a bad back, an employment tribunal heard.
Ms Mann told the mother-of-three she was letting her go as she had been making her health her 'main priority'.
Ms Ogilvie sued for pregnancy discrimination claiming her boss's actions had left her feeling her feeling 'worthless', 'distressed' and in need of counselling. She was awarded £25,777 in damages.
The tribunal heard Ms Mann runs a domestic cleaning business, Evora Contracts, from her home in Wormit, in Fife, Scotland.
Ms Ogilvie started working as a cleaner on a zero hours contract in August last year, but was then offered an alternative role as an assistant manager and agreed a salary of £350 per week.
Two months later, Ms Ogilvie, from Dundee, Celebrity Deep Fake found out she and boyfriend Jason Irvine, 52, were expecting and told Ms Mann immediately.
She received the previously agreed salary until November 2022 when Ms Ogilvie suffered morning sickness and was off work for five weeks as she received statutory sick pay.
Ms Ogilvie (pictured) sued for pregnancy discrimination claiming her boss's actions had left her feeling her feeling 'worthless', 'distressed' and in need of counselling. Now, she has been awarded £25,777 in damages
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The panel heard when she returned to work in January 2023, she was paid less than the agreed £350 up until February, and was told it was because the business 'did not have the funds'.
Ms Ogilvie went off sick again with pregnancy-related back pain - again receiving statutory sick pay.
In March of last year, Ms Mann sent Ms Ogilvie a message terminating her contract with 'immediate effect'.
The message claimed it was 'due to your medical conditions and your health has to be a priority', but also mentioned 'customer satisfaction' which had been 'discussed before'.
In a similar case, a pregnant carer won more than £40,000 in compensation after she was sacked by WhatsApp after she told her manager she was expecting a child.
Jade Hodkinson was told she was being dismissed by text from her care home position because she had not completed her training.
However, an employment tribunal found the real reason for her 'shocking' dismissal was her pregnancy, coming just weeks after she had informed her boss of the good news.
The tribunal, held in Manchester, heard that Miss Hodkinson was hired by the care home as a senior care assistant in October 2021.
She successfully sued B&R care for pregnancy discrimination and unfair dismissal. Now, the mother-of-four has been awarded £40,349.81 in compensation.
Other workers have seen themselves being sacked after a series of flirty exchanges over WhatsApp.
One such incident saw a recruitment director - who rejected her male boss' sexual advances after swapping raunchy text messages - winning a sexual harassment claim.
Goran Hankic climbed into bed with Georgina Roberts after the pair exchanged a string of messages about erotic romance novel Fifty Shades of Grey which ended in them both admitting they were 'turned on', an employment tribunal in Leeds heard.
Boss, Goran Hankic (pictured), climbed into bed with Georgina Roberts - recruitment director - after the pair exchanged a string of messages about erotic romance novel Fifty Shades of Grey which ended in them both admitting they were 'turned on'
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The conversation had begun with Mr Hankic consoling Mrs Roberts after she had broken up with her wife but became sexually charged after she asked him: 'Do you know I fancy both?'- despite him being present at her wedding, the tribunal heard.
A month after the chat, Mr Hankic got into bed with Mrs Roberts and 'grabbed' her breasts following a work social.
When the managing director's advances were not reciprocated, he stormed out and became 'hostile' towards her at work, the tribunal was told.
In a bitter campaign Mr Hankic delegated work away from Mrs Roberts and completely 'blanked' her - when they had previously declared themselves to be each other's 'best friends'.
Mrs Roberts is now in line for compensation after winning claims of unfair dismissal and sexual harassment with a judge ruling the 'die was cast' for her after she rejected his sexual advances.
Leaving a colleague out of a WhatsApp chat can also lead to workers being sacked.
Darren Case, a housing officer, was fired after setting up a WhatsApp group called 'Wolfpack', inspired by a name given to a group of pals in the Hangover film franchise.
Inappropriate messages were sent by Case in the chat about a female colleague who had been specifically excluded from the group.
Welsh social housing provider Tai Tarian was alerted of its employee's messages by a member of the group in April 2018.
A judge ruled in October 2023 that excluding colleagues from WhatsApp group chats can be discrimination (file image)
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Case was accused of bullying the woman by posting messages about on her weight, speech and personal hygiene, describing her as 'autistic' and encouraging games to be played at her expense.
He was found guilty of gross misconduct and a tribunal backed the dismissal.
Ian Jones, the director and principal solicitor at Spencer Shaw said more people were being sacked due to inappropriate WhatsApp messages.
He told the Telegraph: 'If there is a sufficient work connection to the WhatsApp group, almost inevitable if the members are a group of work colleagues exclusively, then any wrongdoing by employee - harassing comments, discriminatory behaviour (even if unintended), bullying, reference to sex or sexual issues - will mean that the employee may be liable to disciplinary or even legal action.'
Dawn Dickson, a partner at Anderson Strathern, added that it didn't matter what the sender intended but how the message is perceived and the impact it had.
'If this kind of behaviour continues unchecked, it could lead to harassment claims or even constructive dismissal, which can be expensive for employers,' she warned.
A judge ruled in October 2023 that excluding colleagues from WhatsApp group chats can be discrimination.
Employment Judge Sarah George said bosses need to have a good justification for failing to include staff in chat groups - even if they are absent.
Being left out of messages while workmates are included can be viewed as an 'unfavourable act', she added at an employment tribunal hearing in Watford.
NatWest this month announced it was banning staff from using WhatsApp, Skype and Facebook in an effort to stick to rules over workers' use of unauthorised electric messaging as well as to avoid fines (file image)
Her ruling came in the case of Mark Brosnan, 60, who was awarded compensation after claiming he was discriminated against while suffering from a bad back.
One of Mr Brosnan's complaints was that he was left out of a work group chat to 'communicate important safety information' because he was off sick with the recurring injury. And a tribunal agreed that being left out was unjustified.
He was awarded £134,411 in compensation for the company's 'completely unreasonable' conduct in proceedings where they did 'literally nothing' to aid his ability to return to work.
This included £15,000 in injury to feelings, £7,000 personal injury and over £25,000 in loss of future earnings.
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