A Look Back at How Workplace Communication Has Evolved

I started working a long time ago. It wasn’t exactly the time of dinosaurs roaming the earth, but smoking was allowed inside the office (can you imagine!). It was certainly before mobile phones, email, and the magical World Wide Web. Time marches on, and instead of reaching for a gasper while waiting for a client order to be confirmed via fax, we’re now standing at our desks, tapping away at our computers, accessing files from ‘the cloud’, and communicating instantaneously via text message.

How Technology Changed Employee Behaviour

Technology has changed how we communicate and how employees work. In the past, most workplaces only had landlines, so personal calls were obvious. While personal calls were often allowed, it could be awkward if the whole office could hear you chatting with your mum about why you came home so late last night.

Thanks to Nokia developing the first true texting phone in the late ’90s, SMS messages can now be fired off without anyone knowing whether they’re about work or personal matters. Public humiliation averted. We can now text our retorts to Mum’s questions in private.

Can You Direct Staff on Mobile Phone Use During Work Hours?

Texting is convenient, but can employers control personal mobile use during work hours?

A recent case confirms that you can. In February this year, a case was upheld confirming that an employee was not unfairly dismissed for sending an excessive number of text messages during work hours. Further, she had sent an aggressive personal email from her work account — but we’ll deal with that behaviour another day.

The Case That Proved the Point

The employee in question started her own small business outside of her full-time work two months after commencing with the employer.  It all started as an Airbnb opportunity enabling her to easily book out a cottage on her property.  It soon grew when a different digital booking platform contacted her and asked if she would be interested in allowing caravaners to park on her property nightly while moving through to their next destination.  Very quickly, what was a one cottage, mainly online, easy to manage side hustle soon become a popular business that required her to employ a caretaker and property managers.  The employee still felt it was not impacting her ability to fulfil her duties to the employer.

Her employer thought otherwise and in fact, sat down with her to discuss concerns relating excessive personal text messaging during work hours.  The employee was advised that she was required to have her mobile turned off during work hours and that other activities relating to running her Farm Stay business were not to continue during her agreed hours of employment.   Such directions made by an employer are considered lawful and reasonable and failure to follow such requests can lead to serious consequences.

The employee complied for about a week before slipping back into old habits, and her employment was subsequently terminated.

The Fair Work Commission’s View

The Commissioner hearing the unfair dismissal complaint denied the application and was also of the view that the sheer volume of text messages was “extraordinary and unacceptable” and “it is impossible to believe that [the employee] did any work at all”.  A reasonable assessment given the employee sent 1260 text messages during working hours during a two month period.  The Commissioner also noted that “she would have taken time from her duties to read those text messages in order for her to respond so voluminously.”

The Commissioner determined that the dismissal was fair as the employee had deliberately failed to follow a lawful and reasonable directive which answers our earlier question - can you direct employees when it comes to personal mobile use during work hours?  Yes you absolutely can and a deliberate failure to comply with a lawful and reasonable directive is grounds for termination of employment.

Set Clear Policies and Expectations

As always though, at HR Staff n’ Stuff we prefer to be on the front foot in areas such as these as clarity regarding your expectations around employee behaviours is vital.  Avoiding confusion and reducing the potential to end up at the Fair Work Commission can be achieved through policies that outline whether you will allow reasonable levels of personal communication or if you require phones to be turned off completely and only accessed within break times.

Your decision may be based on a matter of safety due to your industry or simply because it provides a clear delineation between working hours and personal time.  Whatever the reason, clear, upfront communication will help you minimise issues and ensure your team understand conduct expectations.
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Whether you need help in managing an employee’s failure to follow reasonable direction or you want to establish policies that support a positive and productive workplace, HR Staff n’ Stuff is here to help when you need us.  Contact us now for a chat about your individual business needs.