Can we fire employee for misconduct during his lunch break? 05-03-2006

We gave an employee a final notice for violating company policy - he was blatantly rude to a customer on the sales floor. We later found out the employee was on lunch break during the time he violated company policy. Can we still hold an employee accountable for company policy even though they are "off the clock" and still on company premises?

Rita Risser replies:

Assuming that everyone who is rude to customers is fired, yes, this is a terminable offense.

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