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County Personnel Recruitment Consultants Limited
53-57 The Parade
Bourne End
Buckinghamshire
SL8 5SB
Tel: 01628 851303
Email
View map
53-57 The Parade
Bourne End
Buckinghamshire
SL8 5SB
Tel: 01628 851303
View map
Created by Jon Davey
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Surfers at work cost UK firms £10.6 billion
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Research by the Confederation of British Industry shows that while many businesses view personal internet use as ‘a modern-day tea break’, others are more troubled by it. Some said they have even been forced to sack staff for serious abuse of privilege. In one case uncovered by the survey, an unnamed insurance company fired a worker for spending entire days playing a ‘swords and sorcery’ role-playing game.
The study of 503 organisations, which employ more than one million workers, also revealed nearly two thirds of employers think staff regularly use office time to look at non-work sites, including social networking and web email. It estimates around ten days a year is lost this way, at a cost of £939 per employee. However, the CBI discovered that many companies see reasonable use of the web at work as a morale booster. Only 14 per cent of firms restrict web access altogether. John Cridland, CBI deputy director general, said that employers understand that the internet has become a part of everyday life and are prepared to be flexible. “Many firms feel that, as long as the job gets done, there is no problem with staff surfing for personal use,” he added. Cridland pointed out that an hour and a half a week may sound like a lot, but is not always wasted time. Productivity and morale can increase when firms trust staff to use the web sensibly to catch up with friends on Facebook, pay household bills, or search for a cheap flight. He said: “£10.6bn a year is a significant sum, however, and this is an issue that firms need to be aware of. It can become a problem where staff are spending excessive amounts of time online, are downloading porn or software, or are putting the organisation's reputation at risk.” He noted that no one wants to behave like Big Brother and said there was no epidemic of misuse, but called for a bit of give-and-take from all parties. “Employers need to decide for themselves what level of non-work surfing is acceptable and then set out clear boundaries," he added. How do you set surfing boundaries in your workplace? An outright ban on using the internet at work is not realistic for many organisations and it is more appropriate to manage email and internet use by putting in place an Acceptable Use policy. This takes into account legal considerations and sets out the company’s rights to the reasonable monitoring of emails and internet use. The document also acts as a reference point for employees on the topic. Such a policy should: • Set out what behaviour is acceptable and unacceptable by giving examples • Set out the nature of internet sites which should not be visited for example, pornographic sites • Prohibit taking part in message rooms or submitted content which is likely to cause offence or embarrassment to the employer • Prohibit downloading software without the consent of the company’s IT department • Provide that inappropriate use will be dealt with as a disciplinary matter • Provide that email and internet use can be monitored to investigate allegations of misuse In addition, it should be noted that the monitoring of email and internet use is a legal grey area. Bear in mind that employees have a right of privacy at work and that there is a statutory framework that covers workplace monitoring and surveillance. Data protection is another thorny issue and breaches have dominated newspaper headlines in recent months. It is worth looking at the Information Commissioners’website and specifically the Employment Practices Data Protection Code: Part 3 Monitoring at Work which provides very practical guidance on how to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998. |
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