It is late at night and your phone vibrates with some jokes of colleagues. You join the conversation and go to bed feeling part of the work community. Then you wake up and you have a feeling of apprehension as to how the messages will be perceived.
WhatsApp could have begun as a casual messaging application for friends, but now it has firmly integrated into communication in the workplace, and more and more also in labor conflicts.
WhatsApp chats have also been used to corroborate or refute claims in labor courts. An employee can say that he was promised a salary increase or a flexible schedule through WhatsApp, for example. But, on the other hand, employers have also used WhatsApp records to demonstrate misconduct. This evidence has included the exchange of confidential information.
In the workplace, WhatsApp chats have replaced many informal real -life conversations. The colleagues create groups to coordinate the work, messages are sent outside working hours and relieve their frustrations in private messages. Although this seems informal, it can leave vulnerable employees.
But when disputes become legal actions, these messages can help judges understand what really happened. The courts treat WhatsApp messages like any other document.
We examined more than 2,000 cases presented to the United Kingdom Labor Courts since 2019 that involved WhatsApp. The findings reveal a surprising variety of ways in which these casual talks became evidence.
WhatsApp conversations have played an increasingly crucial role in miscarriage and discrimination disputes, since they are used as an inappropriate harassment or behavior test. The messages are also cited in inadmissible dismissals and contractual demands, especially when informal work communications and digital records were considered fundamental for the case.
In 2018, 48 cases taken to labor courts involved WhatsApp messages. By 2024, the figure had risen to 562. The cases cover a wide range of jurisdictions, but the inadmissible dismissal predominated, the contractual breaches, the harassment and discrimination. Of the cases we examined, several issues were clear.
1. Elimination or exclusion of a WhatsApp group
In the case of Mrs. B. Djagbo against Women’s Health Dulwich Ltd, the plaintiff successfully filed a demand for unfavorable treatment due to pregnancy and motherhood. This followed a series of incidents that took place after she informed her employer of her pregnancy.
Several actions made her feel as if her employment was ended prematurely, including the elimination of the WhatsApp group chat from the workplace. The court granted almost 20,000 sterling pounds.
2. Discriminatory messages or harassment through WhatsApp
In the case of Mr. D. Robson against NGP Utilities LTD, the plaintiff is a gay man and filed a harassment complaint. This included a series of inappropriate and offensive incidents at work, in particular, a WhatsApp group message from a colleague.
The message was part of a broader pattern of jokes aimed at homosexual colleagues. The Labor Court granted more than 36,000 pounds sterling.
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3. Termination of the employment relationship through WhatsApp
The case of Miss J Hodkinson against B&R Care Ltd stands out to a pregnant care worker who received more than 40,000 pounds in compensation after being unjustly fired through WhatsApp. The fact that the dismissal was carried out informally and insensitively supported the conclusions of the Court of “procedural and substantive injustice.”
4. WhatsApp communications presented as proof
Mr. Md Black’s court against Alain Charles Publishing LTD said the plaintiff’s evidence were consistent with the screenshots of WhatsApp messages included in the test package. As a result, compensation of almost 100,000 pounds sterling was granted.
WhatsApp groups can also offer a window to the workplace of the workplace. The courts have seen examples of co -workers who use WhatsApp to share sexist and racist jokes or to gossip on colleagues.
With remote and flexible work, these talks illustrate an increasing tension between constant connectivity and labor exhaustion.
Judicial cases show to what extent WhatsApp has become part of working life, blurring the line between the personal and the professional. The colleagues chat as their friends do.
But when labor relations sour or break the rules, each of these informal talks has legal weight. What someone thought was a single disposable comment in a private conversation can be dissected later as part of a broader body of evidence.
There have been cases in which an employer was ordered to deliver WhatsApp exchanges related to work, and others in which the messages of an employee themselves were used against him.
It is a clear lesson. Privacy in digital communication is never guaranteed. Even encrypted messages can be made public in court.
What is due and what should not be done in WhatsApp
The volume of references to WhatsApp in judicial cases frames some key lessons for employees and employers. In a nutshell, if you would not write it in an email of the company or you would say it at a meeting, do not put it on WhatsApp.
The jokes can be misunderstood and offensive comments do not disappear for themselves. Many have learned this in the most difficult way.
Using WhatsApp to share instructions and decisions may seem convenient, but you should not replace the formal process.
And for employers, it is time to update communication policies, including guidelines on messaging outside working hours, the use of group chats and respect for inclusion expectations.
Prohibit WhatsApp may not be practical, but establishing expectations is important. Even a policy that establishes that any communication related to work in personal messaging applications must adhere to the company’s expected code of conduct is a start.
Many people do not know that a private chat can reappear as evidence. Knowing that a joke of bad taste in WhatsApp could support a complaint for harassment that could cost an unlimited fine, or that ignoring a night work message could be used as evidence of poor performance, it will harden most people to carry out a more conscious communication.
*Jonathan Lord is Professor of Human Resources Management and Labor Law; Gordon Fletcher is an associate dean in research and innovation and Saad Baseot is an associate and researcher professor; All from the University of Salford.
This article was originally published in The Conversation/Reuters
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