Shopping online at work is not a sackable offence, judge rules

Shopping online during work time is not a sackable offence, a judge has ruled.

A tribunal found the amount of time an accountancy administrator spent browsing sites including Amazon and Rightmove was “not excessive”.

The woman, named in the judgement as Ms A Lanuszka, had been fired from her job in July 2023 after her employer Accountancy MK Services used spy software to monitor her computer.

Across two days, business owner Ms Krauze claimed Ms Lanuszka had spent one hour and 24 minutes on personal matters.

Ms Lanuszka - who accepted she had visited websites Rightmove, Very and Amazon - claimed she was allowed to use the computer for personal matters if she had no other work to do.

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And employment judge Michael Magree ruled that a “large proportion” of the time highlighted as personal use had, in fact, been used for work purposes, including for planning, Excel and presentation skill training.

He added there were “no underlying performance concerns or warning” given to Ms Lanuszka, and noted the date of her sacking coincided with the arrival of Ms Krauze’s sister on a permanent basis in the UK.

“Given the fact that there was no prohibition on personal computer use and the amount of time Ms Lanuszka devoted to personal matters during the two days has not been shown to be excessive, there is no deduction for contributory fault,” Mr Magee wrote in his judgment.

“The tribunal concludes that there were not reasonable grounds to support a conclusion that Ms Lanuszka was guilty of misconduct. Nor was there a reasonable investigation carried out.”

According to the judgment, made in Bury St Edmunds in June, Ms Lanuszka began working for Ms Krauze under a separate company name, which was dissolved in 2021 before a new company set up.

Ms Krauze dismissed Ms Lanuszka in 2023 with the belief she would not be able to file for unfair dismissal due to her not working for the new company for two years, Mr Magree said.

Ms Lanuszka was awarded more than £14,000 in compensation and costs.