The risks of using messaging apps in the workplace

The risks of using messaging apps in the workplace

In February 2025, two MPs and eleven councillors were suspended from the Labour Party following the exposure of offensive messages in a WhatsApp group. Can you monitor private chat messages and hold staff accountable for offensive ones?

Messages leaked to the press

Participants in the private WhatsApp group chat had made offensive and derogatory remarks, including about constituents. The messages were leaked to the press and the Labour Party then launched an investigation. This scandal raises questions about the extent to which you can monitor employees' private chat messages and then take action if offensive messages come to light.

Monitoring private chats

WhatsApp personal chats, and chats in many other messaging apps, are end-to-end encrypted so only the parties to the chat can read the content - but that doesn't prevent a participant from copying/sharing the messages. If the chat is on an employee's personal device, you have no right to access it (although there may be an exception where the device is authorised for work use and you have a bring your own device policy which reserves the right to access work-related communications - see The next step). If the chat is on a work device and you have lawfully reserved the right to monitor communications through an appropriate policy, you can ask for the device to be returned for monitoring. However, the employee may well delete the chat before giving it back. Even if they don't, you should not monitor private conversations, as opposed to work-related chat groups, as your monitoring must be proportionate and necessary.

Tip. Consider banning the use of WhatsApp and other private messaging apps for work-related communications. Set your prohibition out in your social media policy and other relevant policies . Not only are there monitoring between private and professional conversations; (2) it means there's no central record of work-related communications; and (3) there's likely to be a breach of the UK GDPR if personal data is being processed.

Instead, insist employees use your official channels for work-related communications, such as work email or an approved messaging service which has built-in compliance and archiving features. If you do approve the use of a messaging service, you could appoint a group moderator to oversee each chat or use monitoring tools to flag offensive content.

Taking appropriate action

If it does come to light that an employee has made offensive comments in a messaging app related to a work matter, and you have evidence to support the allegations, they can be held accountable for their misconduct, even if the comments were made out of hours. Do consider who was in the chat group and what exactly was written, about whom and in what context before deciding whether the comments are sufficiently both serious and connected to the employee's employment, e.g. they relate to colleagues, clients or your business, to warrant disciplinary action. After following your disciplinary procedure, a written warning might suffice for a one-off inappropriate comment.

Trap. If chat messages sent to another employee are discriminatory or constitute harassment, you can be held vicariously liable if the perpetrator was acting in the course of their employment and you didn't take all reasonable steps to prevent them.

You can’t generally monitor an employee’s personal device. You can only monitor a work device if you reserved the right to do so and you act proportionately, so this will exclude accessing private chats. If you have evidence that an employee has sent offensive messages in a work-related context, you can take disciplinary action for misconduct.

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