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There was a time when I would have taken the no side on the issue of monitoring workplace use of the Internet. However, with a plethora of pornographic web sites catering to the tastes of persons of a all genders, employees are not exempt from the temptation to explore and examine some of those pages, whether it is when they should be doing other work related activities or during lunch or breaks. It could possibly be more tempting for those employees to use the Internet at work, rather than at home, to assure a spouse, room mate, lover, will not fine out.

And as the media and law enforcement officers have shown us, there are the pedophiles, serial killers, and stalkers who freely interact within the context of jobs or social circles because sociopaths and introverts have the ability to hide their violent desires and dark sexual needs. If Internet use is not monitored in the workplace and certain persons were tapping into inappropriate or illegal adult websites such as child pornography, it could endanger other employees of the same or opposite sex, as well as innocent children.

Unmonitored Internet activity in the workplace could also open the door for a law suit or other legal action if something were to happen to an employee, or persons of any age, outside the perimeters of the job, and it was revealed that a company were not monitoring Internet use. There have been instances when an employee has been stalked and threatened, or come to harm at the hands of another employee. If employers are not aware of what web sites their employees may be going into then the percentage of persons whose lives become endangered increases.

On the other end, I know of more than a few people who play games, blog, and even shop on the Internet while at work or school. Although much of the time the activity is taking place during morning and afternoon breaks or lunch, there are instances when the activity is taking place when there is work to be done. This translates into poor quality and quantity.

Some jobs do have long lulls, at times during the day, and during those down times perhaps some Internet use could be allowed. I know someone who works at a pay day loan office and there are times he may have an hour or more between customers. The manager drops in by surprise during the day, slipping in the back door to make sure my friend is not doing anything "naughty" as he puts it, on the Web. The manager has a CD with games on it that my friend can play during these lulls if everything is done, filed, etc. But other 'Internet use' is not allowed.

Employer scrutiny protects the consumer, all employees, and the business itself. It can be done discreetly, and there are many programs available to limit what an employee can access on the Internet while at work.

Learn more about this author, Jerrie Lynn South-DeRose.
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