Online shopping at work not a sackable offence, tribunal rules

"The tribunal heard she spent around one hour and 24 minutes over two days on personal browsing. But Employment Judge Michael Magee, sitting in Bury St Edmunds, concluded the activity was not "excessive" and did not justify dismissal. Judge Magee noted that Lanuszka's boss, Ms Krauze, also used her work computer for personal purposes and had provided no clear policy banning such use."

"The judge also criticised diary entries presented by Krauze to suggest long-standing performance issues, pointing out they were written in 2024, after the dismissal, and backdated to 2022 and 2023. The tribunal concluded that Lanuszka's dismissal coincided with the permanent move to the UK of Krauze's sister and was designed to remove her from the company before she accrued two years' service - the threshold at which workers gain full protection under unfair dismissal law."

"Spending short periods of time shopping or browsing online during work hours is not a sackable offence, a UK judge has ruled in a case that awarded an employee more than £14,000 in compensation. A large proportion of the recorded time was spent on professional development, including Excel training. Lanuszka had no prior disciplinary issues and had received no warnings. Lanuszka had originally joined Accountancy MK in 2017 but signed a new contract in 2021 when Krauze rebranded the business."

An employment tribunal found that brief periods of personal online browsing at work—about one hour and 24 minutes over two days—did not constitute excessive misconduct and did not justify dismissal. Ms A Lanuszka was dismissed after her employer installed spyware and recorded visits to sites such as Rightmove and Amazon. The judge noted the employer lacked a clear personal-use policy and that the employer's owner also used the work computer personally. Much recorded time related to professional development, and there were no prior warnings or disciplinary issues. The tribunal awarded over £14,000 and found the dismissal aimed to avoid the employee reaching two years' service.

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