How to Avoid Getting Fired Over Internet Misuse

Christine Angulo

So far we've established what internet misuse is and that almost everybody [who has access to the internet at work] admits to being guilty of some cyber slacking at work every now and then. But you might want to be a bit more cautious next time you take a break to check your Facebook/Twitter, or YouTube to watch the latest viral video during work hours.

According to the 2009 Electronic Business Communication Policies & Procedures Survey from American Management Association (AMA) and The ePolicy Institute, about 26% of employers have fired an employee for violating e-mail policy and another 26% have fired an employee for violating their company's Internet Use policy at work. 

People who are fired for internet misuse may end up having a hard time getting re-hired and that's a pretty scary thought during these economic times. How can you get a break from tedious work tasks without possibly threatening your main source of income? Here are a few tips:

1. Ask about your company's Acceptable Internet Use policy. It may be the case that checking Facebook is an acceptable activity for a specified amount of time at one particular company, but not necessarily in another. It's easier to break the rules if you don't know what is and isn't acceptable at your organization, so just find out and adhere to their rules.
2. Always assume that someone will be standing over your shoulder, because technically, someone is. Many companies nowadays have monitoring software installed on their computers which can track what sites you've been to, how long you've spent on each page, how many tabs/windows were open, what files have you downloaded or uploaded or viewed and catalogs this information into a database which is accessible to your boss for scrutiny. You don't want to be caught with or linked to questionable or outright obscene materials.
3. Limit your cyber-loafing break time. Sometimes being on the internet can take you on a wild ride, clicking from page to page, video to video, etc. and a few minutes can easily turn into a few hours of mindless surfing. Your employer isn't paying you to reply back to a friend's comment on your Facebook wall, they don't appreciate it when you spend too much time not focused on work related activities (How much is too much? Again, refer to your company's AIU policy). A break is exactly what it sounds like. It should only be a short while to refresh your mind before returning back to work tasks.

Hopefully these tips have served as a helpful reminder so that you can be confident that the security of your job is not compromised over silly internet misuse mishaps.

Cyberbullying in the work place

Garrett Sherrill



     Cyberbullying is just like your typical work place bullying/harrasment, except that the wrongful action is actually done electronically or through online communication. Specific examples of cyberbullying are things like threatening emails/text messages/tweets and also include gossip and rumors that are spread through email or a type of social network. Personally I did not think that cyberbullying was much of an issue in today's workplace but studies have proven me wrong. A new study by the University of Sheffield and Nottingham University has shown that 8 out of 10 people have experienced cyberbullying at the workplace in the last six months. That is crazy!

     So, why should employers be concerned and what can they do about it? I dont know about you, but if I was miserable at work because I was being bullied, I wouldn't stay at the job very long. Cyberbullying causes a lot of turnover for employers. Cyberbullying also causes stress levels to rise in employees, and causes loss of productivity and increased absenteeism. All of which cost the emoployer money. In order for employers to prevent cyberbullying there needs to be a culture, along with a strict policy, that communicates that cyberbullying will not be tollerated. Training and workshops on the topic are also very effective.


     Have any of you ever been involved in a company where you have witnessed or even been a victim of cyberbullying? If so how did you overcome it?




http://www.northeastern.edu/securenu/?p=1995

What is internet abuse?

Daniel Ramirez  

 Internet misuse can be defined very strictly as the use of company hardware and internet service for any non-business related activity. The problem is not in defining misuse, but in drawing the line at which point it becomes abuse. If a worker reads and replies to an e-mail to his wife, is it abuse or is it something that is to be accepted in todays hyper-connected society. After-all some workplaces expect e-mails to be answered at night or even during vacations.

   There is obviously a minimum boundary that employers should set. Ban sites that will get the company into legal trouble. Train your employees on the dangers that they can bring onto themselves and the company by being careless online, and explain your expectations and how you will monitor.
   There is also an amount of courtesy that employees should show. I am guilty of getting lost in an interesting article for 15-30 minutes while doing site audits at work. When I know that what I have done or am doing is not contributing to my job, I adjust my timesheet to reflect it. I do not try to download movies, games or music which may make our network vulnerable to cyber attacks. I have a facebook "tab" app that allows me to get on facebook regardless of the company's browser restrictions, but I use it sparingly. I consider it even when one of my supervisors e-mails me during the weekend with a question or needs me to resend a file.
   According to this article on The Week the majority of Americans are mildly addicted to the internet in one way or another. Does this excuse our need to check for notifications? Perhaps being connected has become an integral part of our lives? Internet has been thought of as a right, and necessary to the point that city wide free internet access has been considered in many areas.
 

Is a comprehensive use policy a solution for Internet misuse?

A. Gutierrez
  
       According to a new study of the University of Melbourne in Australia, workers who are allowed to use the Internet for personal reasons are 9% more productive than workers who don´t.

“People need to zone out for a bit to get back their concentration,” said Dr. Brent Coker from the University of Melbourne’s Department of Management and Marketing, in a statement. “Short and unobtrusive breaks, such as a quick surf of the Internet, enables the mind to rest itself, leading to a higher total net concentration for a days work, and as a result, increased productivity.”

The site smallbusiness.chron.com, says that businesses need to be proactive in the workplace with establishing limits, creating a clear and comprehensive acceptable use policy and communicating it to employees through presentation and workshops, but for how long is acceptable surfing on the web for personal uses? For example The Chief Information Officers Council, a (U.S.) government-wide committee of senior technology executives proposed that Federal workers be allowed to spend some time conducting personal business online just as “agencies let employees use telephones to make a reasonable amount of personal calls” ( CIOs: A Little Personal Internet Use Is Ok. Govexec.com. March 22, 1999.)

I think that companies should have an Internet use policy by establishing a reasonable time for personal use. This should be based on the type of work and the amount of hours in front of a monitor. In addition, companies have to establish a code of ethics and stipulate the use of certain websites so that the code of ethics is not violated.

Monitoring Employee Internet Use

Christine Angulo

Nowadays it is very common for organizations to have employees use a computer and the Internet to complete work. It's also not unusual for employees after many hours of tedious work to stray away from work goals and tasks and nonchalantly begin to surf the many pages of the Internet so as to check personal emails, visit social networking sites, play games, and watch videos, etc. Companies would rather not have employees do these things and are taking action. Are you aware about how much of this activity and information is being tracked and what employers can do about it?

According to a 2007 survey by the American Management Association and the ePolicy Institute, about 66% of employers regularly monitor the web activity of their employees, and almost all of these companies have implemented software to block certain sites (anything pertaining to romantic, sexual, pornographic content, gaming sites, social networking, shopping/auction sites, sports pages etc) from being accessed. Thirty percent of the companies surveyed have also claimed to have fired employees who misuse the Internet at work and another 28% have fired employees for email misuse at work. Are these monitoring and termination activities justified?

Companies usually have official policies that describe what, where, how and when an employee is being monitored and the regulations surrounding Internet use at work, but sometimes the lines can be a bit fuzzy. For example, although you may know that your employer is not okay with you visiting and posting to Facebook and Twitter while at work, do you know the company's policy (if there is one) regarding what you post outside of work? Some companies are going so far as to demand that employees and potential hirees provide their login information to monitor their activity on social media sites. Do you think that this is a violation of privacy? When, if any, do you believe that this would be a necessary procedure for a company to implement? Should there be legislation to protect the employee's privacy or legislation to protect the company from potential damage by the employee?

Internet Misuse Costs Businesses Billions of Dollars

Garrett Sherrill

Internet misuse is exactly how is sounds.  It is using the Internet for anything else other than what your job requires.  This can be anything from an employee looking up pornographic websites at work to an employee checking their Facebook while at work.  Please read this short article that Websense, Inc. examines and researches how much Internet misuse actually costs companies.

Personally I have never had a job where I have had access to a computer in front of me on a daily basis.  I do know however know how Internet driven all of our lives have become.  I imagine that most employees, if they have Internet access at work,  abuse their privileges on a daily basis.

OK, so we know that people are on the Internet looking at things other than work related items.  I feel that many people use things like Facebook, Twitter, and Yahoo as stress relievers during a busy day at work.  It might be the only thing that keeps them sane during a hectic work day/week.  So in some sense it allows them to step back from their work and take a short break to gather themselves.  Which in many cases will help them to be more productive.  What are your thoughts?  Should employers ban personal use of Internet to employees or should they trust them to use it responsibly while at work?  Do you really think internet misuse costs companies as much money as the article suggests?