Trolling to hooliganism | How workers behave outside of work isn't your business, until it is

A recent story of an oil rig worker who had been based in the Arctic Circle came to light recently.

The employee was arrested for drunk and disorderly behaviour and abusing police officers when he was refused entry onto a train, for which his representative defended his actions as “an aberration from a hard-working man in a stressful job.”

In this case, the worker’s drinking habits resulted in legal repercussions. Thankfully for employers, this isn’t so common. But it does highlight that an employee’s behaviour can taint their employer’s reputation, and you can’t control what your workers do.

As an employer, you expect your staff to conduct themselves in a work-appropriate manner when they are dealing with customers or clients or speaking to their colleagues within working hours. But what about outside of those hours?