Off-Duty Conduct

April 13, 2006

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If an employee is engaging in some kind of activity or behavior while not at work that you may not approve of, you may be inclined to intervene and try to control or stop the behavior. But in order for you to do anything about an employee's off-duty conduct, there should be some relationship between the conduct and the employee's job or your business.

To determine whether there is any action that you can take regarding an employee's lawful off-duty conduct, ask yourself the following questions:

Is there a relationship between the off-duty conduct of the employee and the performance of the employee's job?
Does the employee's off-duty conduct put your business in an unfavorable light with the public?
Does the employee's conduct have a potential for harming the business?

When faced with off-duty conduct situations, it's important to make the distinction between lawful and unlawful off-duty conduct. If the conduct in question is lawful, you may not be able to do anything about it, and some state laws expressly prohibit employers from discriminating against employees for engaging in lawful off-duty conduct. However, if you can show that the employee's off-duty conduct hurts the way the employee does the job or reflects negatively on the business, you may be able to address it.

In dealing with employees' off-duty conduct, be sure you know: