Community weekly poll: Should you be fired for using the internet at work?
Should you be fired for using the internet at work?
by jensmc14 - 5/2/06 11:43 AMGreat PC World article:
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,125597,00.asp
Depends
by jayfin - 5/3/06 7:06 AM In reply to: Should you be fired for using the internet at work? by jensmc14upon the company's policy regarding use of the internet. If it has a written policy that forbids the use of the internet for personal use, then getting fired (probably not for the first instance)is not unreasonable. It is no different than in the days before the internet when employees were prohibited from using the company telephone for personal use. It just depends upon the company's policy.
Should You Be Fired For Useing The Internet At Work
by cheeseisclever - 5/5/06 2:45 PM In reply to: Depends by jayfinPersonally I do not think that such drastic
action should be taken,
bearing in mind that such action not only
punishes the Offender but his or her family
as well.
I think that after an initial warning,
any lost time due to surfing in working hours
could possibly be dealt with by imposing
a fine for downtime lost in working hours.
Or even a period of suspension
rather than taking someones employment from them.
Harry
my experience
by gincidium - 5/6/06 3:39 PM In reply to: Should You Be Fired For Useing The Internet At Work by cheeseiscleverMy experience has been that I was caught up in the very begining of the internet revolution and found myself addicted to the net. ie.... news, shopping, stocks, money management, ... I knew something was up when I noticed my computer booted up differently one day. My employer began secretly tracking my usage of the net and then used it against me in a face to face meeting with the personel department. I had been with the company 8 years and found that any loyalty points that I had were thrown out with the bath water. They gave me a strict warning, reviewed the company policy with me and put me on probation for 3 mo. I went cold turkey, I became proactive and disabled the internet from my machine myself in order to break my habit. This seemed to do the trick, but I found that it severely negatively impacted my career and I left the company on good terms a year later.
maybe
by jfhprog - 5/5/06 2:47 AM In reply to: Should you be fired for using the internet at work? by jensmc14If you are surfing porno sites or other such sites. If you have to, do it on your own computer at home!! Also, if companys are willing to start monitoring personal phone calls, faxes or "water cooler" talking.
Let's be real here, there is a vast amount of time wasted on non-work related chit chat around the office concerning sports, movies, clothing sales, someone's kids, grandkids, vacations, etc. If companys want to cut down on wasted time, attacked it all (including the good ole boys golf games!)
Subjective Determination
by mfmpraxis - 5/5/06 4:09 AM In reply to: Should you be fired for using the internet at work? by jensmc14As much as I use the web as a tool for so much of my business work, I can't imagine having a strict "no internet use" policy is the best course of action for any business. There are ways of blocking certain categories of web sites from being accessed through the office server, as was the case in my last workplace where shopping sites, porn sites, entertainment site, etc., were blocked, but, you were able to access travel sites to book your travel, etc. Obviously, this method has its limitations on how much control you can actually exert, but, it certainly seems a better option than a complete ban, which is just "swimming against the current" if you ask me. I think employers have the right to expect that internet use time be minimal, but, ultimately each workplace will have to make a subjective determination in how the internet is intertwined with its daily goings on.
Yes and no!
by hislifetolive - 5/5/06 5:01 AM In reply to: Should you be fired for using the internet at work? by jensmc14Most companies have the standard company disclaimer at the logon to the company network that the computer and its extended resources are for company use only. Any employee who fails to note that warning and take it seriously is simply foolish. That said, everyone does some personal type of work on the company pc. Whether mapquesting for directions for that weekend trip to emailing friends or checking the balance in your bank account. The question becomes largely one of will I handle things in a reasonable fashions so as not to be standing out to network administrators. If you go out of your way to make yourself known, you will become well known. That is a fact. That this person continued after being warned shows he was a bit ignorance. Nothing else is said about this person's value as an employee but the old adage "they can find a way to fire you" applies. So check you email if you must but do remember that your employer pays you for your efforts on their behalf. Not playing video games and visiting dating sites. One might say that it is a privilege to have the connectivity, not a right. Use it wisely.
Maybe
by PromptCritical - 5/5/06 5:10 AM In reply to: Should you be fired for using the internet at work? by jensmc14I am the one that has to enforce our acceptable use policy at my hospital. We need the Internet. In fact we encourage its use for limited personal business and fully support and in some cases pay for continuing education via the Internet.
I even post links to CNET articles on our Intranet site. I find educated users cuts down on my work.
However, two things will get someone written up in a New York minute: porn and online games. Both place the PC at extreme risk. If I find that, I pull the PC and use all tools to completely document the violation.
First offenses usually do not result in termination but that is dependent on the content accessed.
Access Denied
by Ukexpat - 5/5/06 5:45 AM In reply to: Should you be fired for using the internet at work? by jensmc14My company has Granny software which pops up an Access Denied message if you go to an "undesireable" site.
Unfortunately it is such a piece of crap that it stops me from looking at the Daily Mail newspaper because it has the word "mail" in it but does not stop me from looking at my Google mail.
Bearing in mind that I work in an auto dealership, it also stops me from looking up information on the Florida Highway Patrol website.
The software does not stop you going to a proxy such as anonimizer.com
Mangement attempts to control internet access which produce the above results are worse than pathetic.
Internet Can Be A Useful Tool
by rlingk - 5/5/06 5:50 AM In reply to: Should you be fired for using the internet at work? by jensmc14I use the internet at work, as a tool. I feel the type of usage should be work related, but I don't feel any employee should be terminated just because they use the internet!
yes, limited use of internet at work
by maggiedev - 5/5/06 6:20 AM In reply to: Should you be fired for using the internet at work? by jensmc14if employers would think really hard about the matter, a simple solution would present itself. rules presented to prospective employees at the get go would be a start. internet should be allowed on downtime. most employers provide a couple of 10-15 minute breaks per day and a lunch time of half to a whole hour. what would be the harm in allowing them to sit at their desk and use the internet if it did not interfere with others in the office not on down time. mothers (and dads) could check on their children at day care or private sitters via email during their down time, check with other family members as needed and without worry that they would lose their jobs. people that are allowed to use the net during their down time are more likely not to abuse the system. where is the harm if it does not bog down the other computers in the office. if abuse occurs, warn once and fire next time. very simple and keeps employees happy and bosses have less to worry about. break and lunch time are not productive in itself so how can anyone say "we are losing money"?
that attitude does not compute. break time is for relaxing and preparing for another part of the work day. many of us find using the net a very relaxing thing to do. another thought, if an employee is on break and sitting around, visitors to your business see people doing nothing. if they are using the net on break, they are at least looking busy. if i owned my own company, i would gladly allow my employees internet access during their down time. happy employees are more productive and make for a happy work place. just my opinion.
No easy answer
by hemanth_vr - 5/5/06 6:54 AM In reply to: Should you be fired for using the internet at work? by jensmc14While on the surface, allowing employees to use the Internet for personal reasons while at work may seem like a relatively harmless activity, there are many factors that companies have to consider that can affect their decision on whether or not to allow such activity on their network. Such factors include things like Network Security, detertmining the best solution to block websites containing material deemed inappropriate for the office environment (read: Porn Sites) and Bandwidth usage. As we all know a business' primary function is to make money and just like making a personal phone call from your office phone, using the Internet costs money. A lot of business Internet service programs have bandwidth limits that incur additional charges when those limits are exceeded. Not to mention that if you get enough people streaming audio from the web through their workstation and you will bring the network to a crawl.
Today many companies allow their employees to browse the Internet on their own time calling it a 'benefit' of employeement. Case in point, I am sitting at the office now writing this post. Should you be fired for using the Internet at work? I think if you are found to be viewing inappropriate material or otherwise breaking company Internet-usage policy then yes you should be. After all, the company pays for the service and therefore should have the right to dictate how that service is used and by whom.
Bean-counting vs the human spirit
by Razzl - 5/5/06 7:12 AM In reply to: Should you be fired for using the internet at work? by jensmc14Whenever I see this stuff about companies and government agencies obsessing about their employees' web use I'm reminded of a study done in Britain in the '70's that found that in offices where employees got away with doing all the naughty stuff like making personal calls on the phones, taking home pencils from the supply closet, making personal copies on the copiers, etc., morale was high and the employees were more productive. People will produce for you if you let them exercise enough autonomy in their work environment that they feel it's their enterprise, too. If you worry about your employee's web use, don't give them access to the web unless they need to have it. There are some agencies and companies that give their employees high-speed internet access capability on their desktops and then think their employees are only going to use the web once or twice a year to look up an occasional address--how do they think these people are even going to know how to do that without a little practice? Who can resist the temptation to escape the humdrum of desk work when the world is placed at your fingertips?
Using the internet is constitutionally protected
by inmyopinion - 5/5/06 7:50 AM In reply to: Should you be fired for using the internet at work? by jensmc14Do they fire people for talking? Do they fire people for reading the news? Using the internet is a basic right of free speech. Sue their a$$ if they fire you for this. (Looking at porn on the internet at work is a different story). If they say using the internet is equivalent to doing personal stuff at work, then ask them a few questions....Do they fire people for listening to music? Do they fire people for taking smoking breaks or cofee breaks? Do they fire people for talking going to the bathroom?
NO, It's Not
by sallenmd - 5/8/06 10:32 AM In reply to: Using the internet is constitutionally protected by inmyopinionUsing the internet at work does not constitute protected speech. Their connection is their property and they have the right to regulate it. If they have a written policy and you have been made aware of it, your lawsuit will be dismissed.
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