WhatsApp messages that can get you in trouble at work

While WhatsApp is often used as an informal means of office communication, its misuse can get employees into trouble at work.

This is according to an analysis of over 2,000 cases involving WhatsApp brought before British employment tribunals over the past six years.

The study was conducted by Jonathan Lord, Gordon Fletcher, and Saad Baset, researchers at the University of Salford, who point out that WhatsApp increasingly finds itself at the centre of misconduct and discrimination disputes.

Baset et al note that cases involving WhatsApp brought to employment tribunals increased from 48 in 2018 to 562 in 2024.

Although the cases span from contract breaches to harassment, the researchers identified several common themes. 

These themes are not specific to WhatsApp and can happen on other digital communication platforms, such as Microsoft Teams.

The first was the removal or exclusion of an employee from a WhatsApp group that other colleagues are in.

The researchers specifically referred to a case where a woman who had informed her employer that she was pregnant was made to feel as though her employment had been prematurely brought to an end.

One of these actions was removing her from the workplace WhatsApp group by her employer. She was awarded £20,000 (R482,000) as a result.

A more common theme identified was a case of discrimination or harassment made by one employee against another.

The example used was the case of a gay man who identified a series of offensive incidents at work, including a message sent by a colleague on a WhatsApp group.

Employers were also found to be in violation of the law when dismissing employees via WhatsApp, as courts deemed this an informal method.

In one case, a pregnant care worker was awarded £40,000 (R964,000) after being dismissed via WhatsApp as the courts said it added to “procedural and substantive unfairness.”

The researchers also pointed out how increased digital communication and remote working arrangements can blur the boundaries between one’s personal and professional life.

Therefore, they note that because colleagues chat the way friends do, this often gives rise to a lot of sexist and racist jokes being made.

“When working relationships sour or rules are broken, each of these informal chats carries legal weight,” Baset et al write.

“What someone thought was a single throwaway remark in a private conversation can later be dissected as part of a wider body of evidence.”

Emojis in the workplace

Legal Leaders managing director, Aslam Moolla, warned South Africans to take care with the emojis they use in work-related conversations.

Moolla explained that the meanings of emojis could vary based on context, generation, and cultural group.

“We live in a digital era. You’ve got to be aware of how you say things at work,” Moola said.

“If you give a thumbs up or use certain fruit emojis, all those things, there are consequences to that,” said Moolla.

Similar to Baset et al, Moola warned that any social media messages could be admitted as documentary evidence in labour-related legal proceedings or disciplinary hearings.

He provided the example of a manager sending a message to a worker to be at a meeting at a specific time, and that worker responding with a thumbs-up.

In that context, one interpretation of the emoji is that the worker agrees to attend the meeting, while another is that they acknowledge the message.

Moolla also warned that a thumbs-up in response to a contract or agreement could constitute a binding agreement.

In one case involving contract law, a judge found that a handshake emoji with two champagne flutes clinked together signified the conclusion of a contract.

Moola also said that the WhatsApp blue tick, which acts as a read receipt, could be regarded as proof that a user has received and acknowledged a message.