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| Employee Handbook |
| Internet Abuse in the Workplace: Maybe |
Midnight. The plant was empty, and the computers had “slipped into screen-saver slumber” as the investigator furtively sat in front of a colleague’s personal computer. In half an hour the detective made an exact copy of the worker’s hard drive. Then, using a program called Encase, he uncovered hundreds of pornographic images, which eventually cost the coworker his job.
Recently a small firm in Utah noticed that its servers were full. An employee remarked that several workers were regularly downloading music albums from Napster. The albums ended up on the servers, taking up gigabytes of valuable space. An innocent act had disrupted the company’s day-to-day operations.
“Most people have a general sense that employers can see a lot of what they’re doing [on their workplace computer], but the extent to which technology allows a company to see exactly what employees are doing on a system surprises a lot of people,” says John L. Collins, workplace-law expert.
Most bosses don’t mind when employees occasionally check sports scores on the Web, or buy a gift for a spouse at an online mall. But employers are becoming increasingly concerned about lost productivity due to Web surfing, and abuse of company Internet privileges. Of greatest concern is the downloading of pornography. Objectionable material becomes a legal problem (sexual harassment) when it’s sent from one employee to another by e-mail.
Workplace computers are company property, so employers may inspect their contents. And in most states employers are not required to inform workers of computer monitoring. Many large companies are disciplining or terminating employees who abuse Internet policies.
So, make sure you’re aware of your company’s Internet policies and follow them. When possible, transact your personal Internet business in the privacy of your own home and on your own computer.
Sources:
Miller, Greg “High-Tech Snooping All in Day’s Work; Security: Some Firms Are Now Using Computer Investigators to Uncover Employee Wrongdoing” Los Angeles Times HR News Wire shrm.org.
Harrison, Crayton “Some employers setting limits on Web surfing in workplace” The Dallas Morning News HR News Wire shrm.org.
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