Hints of the holiday season are tucked away in every corner of the workplace. Cards from customers and vendors are tacked up in cubicles. Uneaten candy canes and tin canisters filled with chocolate-drizzled caramel popcorn continue to make appearances in the break room. The office-party circuit seems endless and, of course, requires a preparty hair-and-makeup gathering in the ladies’ room at 4:00 p.m. Most managers expect productivity to take at least a minor dive during the winter months.
But the biggest time-waster is actually a less visible threat. And it’s present throughout the year. The productivity killer of the modern workplace is the World Wide Web, also known as the black hole of efficiency. The Internet is always open for business, even when your employees should be minding the store. Can’t you just hear the online retailers jumping for holiday joy?
Technology for HR: A Legal and Practical Guide for Managing E-Mail, Intranets & Social Media
Getting paid to rock around the Christmas tree
Most will agree that a total Internet lockdown just isn’t feasible. Businesses need access to the Internet for a whole host of reasons. But employees use it for far more than business-related tasks.
Employees access the Internet during working time for any and every reason imaginable — online banking, bidding in online auctions, reading news reports, checking sports scores, and, of course, shopping. During this time of year, employees everywhere are indulging in a bit of online retail therapy — and getting paid to do it!
It’s the most wonderful time of the year . . .
You should be worried about the amount of time employees spend on the Web.
First, if they’re surfing, they’re not working. That sounds fairly obvious, but without any monitoring or tracking of Internet use, there’s no real way for you to know just how much time your employees aren’t working. One study reports that employees waste an average of two hours per day in cyberspace.
But productivity costs aren’t the only concern. When your employment lawyer falls asleep, it isn’t sugarplum fairies that dance in her head. Her dreamland is more like a Broadway production of The Grinch Who Sued Christmas.
Is ‘Feliz Navidad’ copyright protected?
Online infringement of copyrighted music has been a recent focus of the music industry. In addition to music, employees can download copyrighted software to your network, exposing the company to legal liability. The large size of downloaded music and movie files also puts a strain on the system’s resources.
Do you hear what I hear? Is that an online poker game calling my name?
Some types of website access, if permitted at work, can lead to bigger problems for the employee outside work. Online gambling is a common example of that kind of danger. For some, time spent at work is a welcome respite from the temptations that may face them at home. For those with unrestricted access to the Internet at work, the temptation can become too much to resist. Gambling addiction is at an all-time high in the United States, and unfettered Web access could help increase those numbers.
I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus (so did everyone at my cubicle)
Most of you are well aware of the old adage, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” That holds true with the Internet as well. What some find hilarious, others may find positively unpleasant, uncouth, or downright offensive. If an off- color joke is accidentally forwarded to the wrong person, you may be faced with a sexual harassment complaint.
And sexually inappropriate material certainly isn’t the only offensive content on the Internet. What about an employee who’s actively involved in animal rights and sits next to a coworker who browses his favorite hunting websites daily? Or what about the employee who does a Google search for “medical marijuana” to help her middle-school daughter with a research project? That’s a perfect way for the rumor mill to start churning its vicious wheel of gossip. Before you know it, word has made it around the entire office and back to HR that the employee is involved in illicit drug use.
Perhaps a more common scenario is the employee who accesses online pornography at work. You can and should be concerned about liabilities that ensue when an employee is exposed to adult-oriented images on the computer screen of a coworker. If it happens often enough or the images are particularly offensive, you may be facing a harassment suit.
No employer wants to encourage or permit its employees to engage in child pornography, especially not during working time. Downloading images of child pornography is a crime that can trigger liability both for the employee and the owner of the computer system, usually the employer.
Pornography causes other problems, too. Don’t shoot the messenger, but there have even been a few lawsuits filed by workers who believe they were disciplined unfairly for visiting porn sites on company time. That’s right ? you should be wary of getting sued by an employee who accessed pornography on your business computers while he was being paid to work.
Deck the halls, and while you’re at it, set up a firewall, too
Most HR professionals believe that an all-out ban on personal Internet use is a bad idea. The reality is that your employees rely on Internet access. To take that away is a real morale-buster.
To combat the risks without restricting access entirely, many employers have turned to software programs that filter, monitor, and limit Internet use. Depending on your workplace, one of those programs may be an effective and efficient way to increase productivity and reduce your liability.
Filtering software attempts to filter out potentially dangerous e-mails, preventing them from ever reaching your employees’ in boxes. Web-blocking software prevents employees from visiting websites that you deem harmful or offensive. Monitoring software, on the other hand, lets you monitor Internet use. Though it doesn’t actually prevent employees from accessing any website, the idea is to scare them away from such behavior — you are less likely to take that cookie if mom is standing behind you, watching.
Another type of software gives employees a limited window of time during which they can access the Internet. Before and after normal business hours and from noon to 2:00 p.m., for example, the Internet highway is toll-free. But access during any other time will cost you ? each employee is given an Internet “allowance” of one hour each day. Once that hour is consumed, the streets roll up, and employees have no choice but to get back to work.
Joy to the world and the IT department!
There are pros and cons about each of the software options, and what works for you will depend on a number of factors. While the trend certainly favors implementing some type of technology-based limit, not all employers have chosen to take that route.
Regardless, every employer should and, in some states, must take certain steps to control its employees’ Web access. The key to compliance and prevention when it comes to Internet access is having a comprehensive technology policy that is thoughtfully drafted, clearly communicated, and consistently enforced. Here are some tips on how to make that happen.
Sample Policy on Computer and Internet Use (login required)
- Clarify what you expect. And don’t expect employees to know unless you tell them. The policy should clarify just how much time is acceptable and how much is not. Consider identifying some limited examples of when an employee is likely to need to access the Internet during working time, such as to check in with elder or daycare providers. Also note that while you recognize that it’s a necessary part of modern life, you won’t tolerate abuse of Internet privileges.
- Identify what’s prohibited. Be specific. Pornography is prohibited. So are any other websites that are sexual in nature. Websites that promote hate in any form should be banned outright. You also may want to specifically ban access to social networking sites such as YouTube, Facebook, and MySpace, which are notorious time-wasters. Online gambling sites, for pay and for play, should also be explicitly off limits.
- Communicate the risks to network security. Don’t shy away from explaining the potential risks posed by music and movie downloads. They take up space and expose the company’s server to spam and pop-ups. Employees aren’t interested in having their computers slowed to a crawl or having to constantly close reappearing pop-ups. By explaining the risks, which are often equally threatening to the employee, you may avoid substantial problems.
- Explain the legal risks. You should present your technology policy as part of every internal harassment training class you conduct. The two go hand in hand. Another good practice is to repost the policy anytime you are notified of a violation. If an employee is offended by her neighbor’s Internet use and reports it, she wants to be assured that the company agrees that the behavior is unacceptable. Instead of just paying lip service to the concerns, circulate your policy either in writing or even via e-mail with a short note reminding employees of the rules and the consequences.
- Get it in writing. Yes, you’ve likely heard it before, “document, document, document.” Well folks, it’s true. And in this case, it’s true not just because your employment lawyer says so — some states actually requires it.