You may have seen the recent reports of England cricketer Ben Stokes, who was left out of a one-day international against the West Indies following his arrest after an incident outside a nightclub.

This story raises the issue of whether employers can take disciplinary action based on an employee's conduct outside of working hours.

The short answer is that they can, provided the conduct outside of work has a bearing on the employment relationship.

Cases involving violence, sexual conduct or dishonesty are most likely to affect the employment relationship, either because of the work the employee does (for example if they work in a role which requires a certain level of responsibility or trust) or due to their employer's reputational concerns.

There is, however, no hard and fast rule that an employee who is being investigated, charged or convicted of a criminal offence must be dismissed. The consideration here is whether their suitability to do their job has been called into question, and whether irreparable damage has been caused to their relationship with their employer, colleagues and customers.

What about social media?

Conduct outside of work is of course not limited to criminal behaviour. We are increasingly seeing disciplinary action being taken for employees' inappropriate use of social media outside of work. These cases will generally turn on their own facts.

If an employer decides to discipline an employee for inappropriate use of social media which damages the working relationship, they will need to justify their actions, particularly if they decide to dismiss.

Employers should have a clear social media policy in place so individuals are clear about what is and is not acceptable conduct.

- Michael Delaney is a partner at Watford-based law firm VWV