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Should employers monitor employees' Internet use?
Results so far:
| Yes | 64% | 1190 votes | Total: 1874 votes | |
| No | 36% | 684 votes |
Yes
by Elizabeth M Young
Created on: September 09, 2009 Last Updated: September 10, 2009
Ruling out any employer monitoring of Internet use outside of the workplace, employers are well served to monitor employees as they use the Internet on the job. The computer, paid time, and access to the Internet is property of the employer. Any abuse of those resources can cost the employer in wasted work hours, liability, and reputation.
For example, if an employee is stupid enough to engage in workplace gossip, harassment, or other misbehavior, the employing agency could be held liable for not preventing or stopping the harassment that was done on its premises and with its own equipment. Monitoring an employee's entire transaction activity is justified in order to determine quality of work, quantity of work, and whether inappropriate use of company assets is going on.
If an employee is engaging in more serious wrongdoing, such as running a private business or political campaign, accessing and using pornographic, racist, or gambling sites, or engaging in hours of gaming, the employer is better served by monitoring, so the activity can be identified and stopped as soon as possible.
Whatever gets a person fired gets a person fired, whether the actions are conducted on line or whether they are conducted in the real world. Employers can monitor for real world problems in behavior and actions. Computer activities become part of the person's real world behavior and actions. When company resources are misdirected from activities which benefit the bottom line, then it's the same as if company vehicles, supplies and equipment are taken and used for unauthorized purposes.
Finally, some people just don't get it. They think that, because they spread gossip about a coworker, badmouthed the company, or grossly disrespected the boss via a company computer, that they are exempt from the consequences because they decide that the computer is their "private" domain. No it's not. It's company property and everything that is done on the equipment is under the company's control.
In cases where a person wrote an e-mail that badmouthed the boss, violated company confidentiality, or hurt the reputation of the company, it does not matter that the written, recorded, and easily reproducible communications originated on a private computer and were done at home. The damage is far worse than if the person had spoken the words without a record of what was said. With e-mails and chat, there are endless possibilities of the record being exposed to a large number of people, and quickly, too.
Most employers have absolutely no right to intrude into or monitor a person's home computer or off duty on line activity. But proof of damaging and inappropriate behavior that affects the employer should be a reason for disciplinary action or termination even when the behavior was done on a home or non-work related computer.
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No
by Saurabh Pal
Created on: August 05, 2007 Last Updated: March 22, 2011
The relationship between an employer and an employee is one of trust. If it is missing then there is no meaning in the relationship. Monitoring an employee's internet usage is akin to telling him or her that the employer does not trust them.
I can understand the concern of employers that an employee will be spending time on the internet without doing their job. Nothing can be more misplaced. Look at it this way, everybody works to earn their livelihood. If a person spends his time surfing without working then he does not deserve the job. People will do their job responsibly. Anybody who has work on his hand with a deadline to meet will never spend time unnecessarily surfing the internet.
On the other hand if a person meets his deadline and has some time on his hand then the employer should not grudge him his time on the net. By the way have you ever seen an employee at Walmart, Costco or other stores surfing the net without attending to the customer? On the other hand, you may have seen executives talking on the phone or chatting with their colleagues without attending to customers. In such case these activities should be monitored as well as they are as harmful as surfing the net.
Having said that let me also mention that it is not acceptable for an employee to view pornography sites or do anything else that hampers the work environment. Similarly, other socializing sites like Facebook, Myspace, Orkut may be considered as untouchable in the office. Some companies consider email sites untouchable as well. This does not give the employer license to monitor the employee's Internet use. There are tools and means of blocking such undesirable sites. If implemented, they will prevent employees from going onto those sites without the employer having to monitor usage.
While this applies to Internet it equally applies to those who spend hours chatting around the coffee machine and the printer or are perpetually on the cellphone. Some do it so loudly that the entire office gets to know the personal experiences of the person. Also employers will have to start monitoring extended lunch hours taken by employees. It may be necessary to monitor official calls or interactions. But that is more due to business reasons with the intention of improving the customer experience.
In conclusion, it must be said that limited Internet use by an employee in office should be acceptable to employers. For monitoring is like a disease, if left undiagnosed, it can get out of hand. If left unchecked there will soon be restrictions at the workplace on other activities as well like chatting, interacting with colleagues, talking on the cell phone, talking on the phone, talking to visitors etc. etc.
If such restrictions are implemented then the workplace will no longer be an enjoyable place instead it will turn into a prison and no employee would want to work at such a place. The modern thinking is to turn workplace into a fun place so that employees relish the experience and want to work there by choice. Remember, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy!
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