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| Yes | 67% | 552 votes | Total: 822 votes | |
| No | 33% | 270 votes |
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Employees' have a tough time as it is now with so many rules and regulations in the workplace for an employer to suddenly turn round and sue the company for a reason that both you and I would find absolutely ludicrous.
Having actually sat with a certain female in a firm of solicitors, who constantly told everyone how busy she was and that she could not help out as she had so much to do, and I was constantly assisting her in getting things done as she had so much work. It transpired after they did a little detective work on her, that she was spending nearly 60% of her day on the Internet on a dating site looking for a prospective new boyfriend. Eventually she was dismissed from the company for misappropriate use of the Internet and wasting company money on employing temps in the prospect of her heavy workload.
It was also in the company's contract that misappropriate use of the Internet would be grounds for dismissal. It is the company's right to relay to their employees misappropriate use and to be quite honest using the Internet for dating is I feel (even in your own time whilst at work) is misappropriate use. No matter what way you are looking at it.
The company also had a major virus which attacked their mainframe and apparently it was all to do with a website "that someone" had been using.
She tried to sue the company as she denied that she was on the Internet for that length of time and wanted them to prove it, which they did, although I am unsure how, but someone in their IT department who was a whizz at computers dis a bit of a survey on her. She then tried to sue them for invasion of privacy and quoted civil rights! Tough call, considering they were solicitors, she did not win and took a good time to get a new job by all accounts.
The Internet is a very powerful thing and computer hacking is a great risk nowadays. All big companies are constantly striving to maintain that they don't have problems with viruses and employees who often get involved with sites that claim they do not store information or will publish details, often are found to be doing just that.
I don't have internet access at work currently and although miss it, realise now I don't have it, how much more work I get done.
Some places even let you have MSN so you can spend best part of the day chatting to your friends, whereas before it was the odd telephone call to a friend (courtesy of the company you were working for) now you can just chat all day to your mates (courtesy of broadband, but still paid for by the company you work for).
If the company states in your employment contract that mis-use of the Internet deems instant dismissal, by this I mean, adult chatting, child pornography and job hunting (why are you job hunting, when you are in a job?), then feel that the person who is caught, has to suffer the consequences, even if they thought it was in their work time, it is misappropriate use and is deception.
I also feel that if a company opens up the opportunity to its employees that they can use the Internet in their own time, its a nice touch, but they have to stipulate their policy about Internet usage in their terms of engagement. The company cannot suddenly introduce a rule if it is not in their conditions of employment in the first place.
The employee equally should not take liberties with their employee.
I think the Internet has opened up a can of worms with regards to it being allowed in the workplace. I know (talking on a different level) that a friend of mine was renting out his room to a student who turned the room down because he was not allowed to use the Internet facilities. (Another topic for Helium I feel).
Learn more about this author, Holly Golightly.
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No
Employers should not have the right to monitor their employees' Internet use during the work day. Unfortunately, many companies have started this practice which has led to some people getting reprimanded or even fired from their jobs based on their Internet activities.
If an employer must monitor their employees' Internet use, it's clear that they do not trust them. These people were hired because they were qualified and the employer believed they could complete a job to the fullest of their abilities. Monitoring Internet use shows the employer has lost that trust, even if the employee has no record of trouble on the job.
Monitoring what other people do online is not a constructive way for either party to spend their days. It is disappointing that whole departments have been hired to specifically monitor Internet use and print such reports out for employers. The money spent on hiring and training these people could probably be better spent elsewhere. For example, employers could choose to make improvements to the office or provide training seminars for employees to do better in their jobs.
If employees are on the Internet to begin with during the day, they may have a lack of work to do. Why doesn't the employer consider giving them more work to do instead of picking on what employees are doing when they have run out of work? Perhaps if employers were willing to keep their employees busy, they wouldn't spend so much time online.
Although we hear reports of employees being fired for looking at pornographic sites all day, it is not fair to say that everyone looks at these kinds of sites on the job. No one should be reprimanded for shopping on Ebay or Amazon if they are searching for perfectly legal products such as DVDs or a new laptop. Sometimes employers take the right to monitor too far.
Instead of sitting around noting an employee's every move on the World Wide Web, it's time employers did something constructive about it.. Employers should have an Internet filter to block out any sites they don't feel their employees should also have access to.
Further, employers can place a time limit on Internet usage every day. Employees can be allowed online for an hour or two a time; which would equal a lunch hour and one or two other short breaks throughout the day. This will keep employees working hard while giving them much needed breaks to relax without having to worry about who is snooping on them.
Employers already check up on employees in a lot of ways. They do background checks and drug testing before they are hired. They make sure they have enough work to do and that it gets done the right way. There should be no reason to add monitoring Internet use to this list.
Learn more about this author, Alison Myers.
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