Employee Internet use at work raises issues
Remember when the primary concern you had about employees' personal use of your company PCs was how much time they spent watching the NCAA basketball tournament?
Those might have been the good old days.
Today, most businesses “don't have a clue how at risk they are” from employees who use company computers to surf the Internet, shop or visit their favorite social sites, says Dave Davenport.
The risk seems to fall into two categories: Reduced productivity from employees using your Internet connection for personal activities and the possibility of nasty legal action from blogs and social network personal postings.
The solution seems to begin with a written, and enforced, acceptable use policy that sets parameters for employee Internet use and conduct.
In fact, businesses without such a policy “are making a mistake,” cautions Karen Codere, a Rosemont-based senior human resources specialist for Administaff, a Houston, Texas, company that provides a variety of HR services (including Internet acceptable use policies) to businesses.
The policy should cover “where employees go (on the Internet) and what they say about the company no confidential or proprietary information, nothing that violates the company harassment policy,” she says.
Davenport, president of Mother Network Guardians, an Itasca IT consulting and support firm, adds a step. To help assure that employees, including temps, are aware of the acceptable use policy, Davenport suggests “a paragraph or two from the employee manual” that pops on the screen to remind users of the company's Internet policy before they can log in.
He also suggests a firewall that, for example, blocks access to YouTube and other Internet sites that gobble expensive bandwidth.
Steve Yates, president of Integrated Technical Solutions, Inc., a Naperville IT consulting and support firm, suggests “an intelligent router that blocks certain sites or configuring the company router as a gatekeeper that might block access to Facebook except for an hour at lunchtime and then after 5 p.m.”
There are usage and related issues to consider. Among them:
ŸYates warns of “inflammatory or discriminatory postings on a blog” that, even if done at home on an employee's personal blog, can come back to haunt your business.
ŸCodere raises the flag about social networking sites, where not-so-private content could violate company anti-harassment policies.
ŸIn addition to bandwidth-robbing sites, Davenport points to creaky PCs “laden with spyware and viruses” from careless surfing.
Still, employees do tend to shop, surf and Tweet from the office.
“Is that a problem?” asks attorney Jim Poznak, of Poznak Law Firm, Ltd., Oak Brook. “Just how much are you willing to put up with? If (excessive personal Internet use) is an issue, then come up with a policy that puts whatever restrictions you want into place.”
Ÿ Contact Jim Kendall at JKendall@121Marketing Resources.com.
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