Penalties stem from an SEC probe

Financial services firm Morgan Stanley has imposed fines between several thousand dollars to as much as over $1 million on workers who used messaging platforms, such as WhatsApp, for company business, according to a report.

The company factored in the number of messages sent, seniority and whether the employees had already received warnings, among others, in calculating the amount of fines, reported Reuters.

However, it’s not clear how many workers were tasked to pay for the crime, nor how much the company expects to receive if and when the workers pay up.

Morgan Stanley agreed to pay $200 million to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2021 to resolve probes into employee communications on messaging platforms that had not been approved by the company, Reuters reported.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority – Wall Street's self-regulatory body – requires broker-dealers to keep records of all business-related communications.

The SEC has been looking into whether lenders have been keeping a track of employees' digital communications, according to the report.

Previously, John Demsey, a high-flying executive with Estee Lauder, was placed on leave after he posted a meme to his public Instagram account seemingly mocking COVID and containing a racial slur. Meanwhile, 86% of Canadian employers say they would fire an employee based on inappropriate posts, according to a recent report.

However, HR needs to have clearer policies...

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