A UK judge has ruled that spending under an hour of work time browsing properties or shopping online does not constitute a dismissible offense.
An accountancy administrator has been awarded over £14,000 after an employment tribunal determined that the time she dedicated to sites like Rightmove and Amazon was not “excessive.”
Ms. Lanuszka was terminated from her position in July 2023 after her employer utilized surveillance software to monitor her computer usage and discovered she was using it for personal activities.
However, the judge ruled that Ms. Lanuszka’s dismissal was unfair, noting that her employer also engaged in personal computer use during work hours.
Employment Judge Michael Magee stated that Ms. Lanuszka’s dismissal coincided with the business owner’s sister’s permanent relocation to the UK.
He concluded that the accountancy firm’s owner sought to dismiss Ms. Lanuszka before she reached two years of service, at which point employees gain the right to claim unfair dismissal under UK law.
Ms. Lanuszka began working at Accountancy MK in 2017, but signed a new contract in September 2021 when the business owner, Ms. Krauze, changed the company’s name.
In July 2023, Ms. Krauze installed spyware on Ms. Lanuszka’s computer and recorded that, over two days (July 13th and 14th), Ms. Lanuszka spent one hour and 24 minutes on personal matters.
Judge Magee, in his June ruling, noted that a significant portion of that time was used for professional development, including Excel training, and that there was no policy prohibiting personal computer use.
“Ms. Krauze did so herself, and no policies were shown to Ms. Lanuszka indicating that she should not do so,” he said.
“She was free to use the computer personally when work commitments permitted and during breaks.”
Ms. Lanuszka had no prior history of conduct issues and had not received any warnings, the judge added.
Judge Magee also criticized diary entries provided by Ms. Krauze as evidence of discussions regarding Ms. Lanuszka’s performance issues in 2022 and 2023, as they were written in 2024.
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