Since its launch in 2016, Only Fans has grown to the point where it boasts in excess of 300 million registered users as of January 2025. It has transformed the landscape of content creation and monetisation. Whilst the platform started out as more family-friendly and still boasts a variety of content, from cooking to fitness and music, the platform is most well-known for its ‘adult’ content and user-created pornography.
It is widely accepted that the number of creators on Only Fans is growing. Given the ongoing cost-of-living pressures, the growing difficulty individuals face in meeting their financial needs, and the increased accessibility of such platforms, the likelihood that you will eventually learn an employee is producing sexualised content on the platform outside of work is steadily rising.
So, as an employer, what are you able to do about this?
For some organisations, the risk of being publicly associated with adult content being published on Only Fans may negatively impact the way some consumers view their services or products and their willingness to engage. This is particularly relevant for organisations such as those that work with children and vulnerable people, are religious, charitable, or provide professional services.
Only Fans is becoming increasingly recognisable following media spotlight on figures such as adult content creator ‘Bonnie Blue’. Regardless of which side individuals find themselves in the debate around the moral permissibility of the platform, being linked to Only Fans is controversial and divisive for many. There is little doubt that a perceived link between certain types of organisation and the platform would risk impacting on the way in which an organisation is perceived in the eyes of certain types of clients and customers.
There is little definitive legal guidance from the courts as to what employers can do in response to their employees moonlighting as content creators on the platform. Actress Sarah Jayne Dunn from the Channel 4 series ‘Hollyoaks’ was exited from her role on the show after refusing to shut down her Only Fans page. However, whilst this gained media attention, her exit was not challenged in court, so this did not lead to any definitive guidance for future cases.
Despite this, it is still possible to use existing law to inform your response to a similar situation.
If the employee has worked for you for under two years, then pending forthcoming changes in the law which are being brought in under the new Employment Rights Bill, you are able to dismiss an employee without needing to demonstrate a ‘fair’ reason for doing so (as the individual will not have yet gained unfair dismissal protection).
However, even individuals with under two years of service have legal protection against being dismissed for discriminatory reasons, so it is important that you are consistent in your response to different employees who have acted in the same way. For instance, consider whether you would introduce the same consequence for a male content creator, as opposed to a female one, or vice versa.
Alternatively, consider negotiating with the employee to determine whether they would be open to close their Only Fans account in return for remaining in your employ.
Where the employee has worked for you for over two years, they will have legal protection against being ‘unfairly dismissed’. Termination of an employee therefore requires that you are able to demonstrate that the dismissal was for a potentially fair reason, was ‘reasonable’, and that you followed a fair process.
If you are dismissing an employee due to their Only Fans activity, the relevant reason would likely be ‘conduct’ linked to the reputational harm that your business is suffering or may suffer as a result of being associated with the platform in this way. However, the fact that the conduct in question is taking place wholly outside of the working relationship can add a layer of complexity – especially if you do not have any clear policies in place setting out what you as an employer deem acceptable.
Whilst there is a lack of definitive case law to provide guidance on an employee’s engagement with Only Fans specifically, the result of cases dealing with the consequences of misconduct on other social media platforms suggests that in order to justify dismissal, you need to be able to present a compelling argument that the potential or actual reputational harm to your business, or the connection with the employee’s ability to do their job, is well-founded and significant. This could be a high threshold to reach - it may depend on the nature of your business and the role that the individual is employed to fulfil.
Employees do of course also have a certain entitlement to privacy. Whilst you may potentially have strong feelings around the moral rights and wrongs of what an individual does outside of work, unless your employee has explicitly linked their content to their employment, for instance by wearing their work uniform, referring to clients or the business, or filming in the workplace, then establishing that their behaviour has a genuine impact on the business or on the working relationship may be challenging in a lot of cases.
In real terms, the most effective way of providing yourself with protection is to set clear expectations for staff around what is and is not acceptable. Many organisations have a social media policy in place which incorporates guidelines around personal use of social media and which clarify that staff must avoid making any social media postings or communications that could damage the organisation’s business interests or reputation, even indirectly.
However, the world of social media is very fast moving, and new and different platforms emerge and gain traction very swiftly. It would be wise therefore for organisations to undertake a comprehensive review of their social media policy to ensure that it is up to date and that it reflects the organisation’s own specific approach – including around areas such as Only Fans content creation. If the rules and expectations are set out clearly in such a policy and an employee contravenes them, then that will make it far safer and easier for an organisation to be able to take appropriate action if an issue arises.
If you discover that an employee has been operating such an account, one thing that case law around social media activity shows us very clearly is that the worst possible thing to do is to engage in a knee-jerk reaction. This can carry its own risks, both in terms of legal claims and reputational damage. Whilst as a manager or business owner you may have particularly strong feelings on the matter, it is important that you act calmly and dispassionately. Ensure that you start by investigating and establish key facts before leaping to any conclusions or decisions, and obtain appropriate advice before taking any actions that may come back to haunt you.
For more information, please contact our employment team.
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