Gross misconduct?

Question

Is using the phone excessively for personal use and the internet for myspace ....

does that come under gross misconduct and immediate dismissal?

its not me!!

Its another girl at work,, I look over her shoulder and she is always on the net and not working, she has done this for months now!!

Answer 1

she probably couldnt be sacked immediately for it but if she has already received written warnings etc it might be a probelm

Answer 2

Gross misconduct can. The company has the right to dismiss, effective immediate where there is gross misconduct, eg fighting, photocopying your jacksy etc. Misconduct would generally result in a warning. You need to wait to see how the company is going to handle the matter. Your partner should consider taking a clued up friend into any meeting she has with HR, just to ensure that everything is above board. In terms of a percentage it's a 50 / 50. Your partner should prepare themselves for the worst, dust off the CV and do something positive, like list jobs they would like to apply for, at least that way they're doing something positive.

Answer 3

Using the telephone for personal use and spending 6 hours a day at work surfing eBay can almost certainly be described as gross misconduct: many companies will deal with this in the Terms & Conditions that you will have signed with your Contract of Employment.

However, it cannot lead to immediate dismissal; your boss will have to go through the company's disciplinary procedure which will normally include a warning and a final warning before dismissal.

Answer 4

Depends on the size and flexibility of the organisation. A small company could dismiss the employee immediately because small companies cannot afford to pay for employees' personal calls and web browsing. If you want to make personal calls, use your mobile. There's nothing on myspace that's so urgent that it can't wait until the employee gets home. In a medium to large organisation, there's usually a code of conduct and a displinary process already set out for breaches of the code of conduct.

Answer 5

Hi - all depends on your (sorry her) contract of employment and also the companys pc and internet useage policy. if you refere to this policy it will state what the internet can be used for and the consequences of it not being adhered to.

I would say gross dismissal for excessive internet is to harse however a final written warning with a 2 month improvement notice and also her boss or imediate supervisor should have thei hands rapped for not supervising correctly

Answer 6

You are not paid to use the phone for private use as most company's don't mind the odd call miss use of the phone can be called theft (time paid when should be working & cost of call) & there for immediate dismissal the same applys it the use of the internet

Answer 7

It could potentially be a reason for dismissal, although I'd expect a warning first.
May be worth warning her that the company could be monitoring her Internet use and phone use!

Answer 8

It depends on what the companies written policy is. If your company has a no abuse policy (which all of those things would constitute) then yes, you could be immediately dismissed.

Answer 9

At my last job, a guy that had been there 7 YEARS. Got fired when the GM came in saw him on the web, while a phone was ringing. Harsh but it happened

Answer 10

Could well be, depends on what she was told about phone and computer use though, if she wasn't told that she couldn't use it for personal work, then they would have a problem with instant dismissal.

Answer 11

no. gross misconduct is when you do something that directly harms a colleague or the company i.e fraud, assault etc. that's just misuse of the company's facilities. the person doing that should definitely receive disciplinary action tho. xx