ALT-5 Should Employers Monitor Employees Internet use – Yes
They surf porn to Neopets, eBay to YouTube, and MySpace back to porn. Employees rack up hundreds of hits and in many cases hours of time on these sites and more. As you know, in most cases this surfing has nothing to do with the business of the company.
So yes, employers need to monitor their employees' Internet use. Most companies have an Internet usage policy which includes monitoring not only their employees' Internet usage, but also their e-mail and instant messaging too.
This should not be seen as a violation of employee privacy because they are there to perform work that they were hired to do, not check on their latest bids on eBay or instant message their friends all day long.
Of course, the other issue companies need to start looking at is why has this problem increased so much? If employees have so much time to surf the net, then someone isn't giving them enough work to do or communicating with their employees on a regular basis.
So, while we can say Internet abuse is reaching epidemic proportions, we need to look at more at the root causes and not just the resulting problem. Are managers not taking time to actually talk face to face with employees? Are managers wasting time on the Internet as well? Are employers not consistent with handling Internet abuse or are they looking the other way because they wish to avoid possible legal battles? Does the younger generation just expect to be able to do whatever they want on the Internet?
Typically, companies have had a three strikes and your out rule depending on the level and type of abuse. As Internet abuse and addiction increases though, companies may wish to think of some alternatives, like sending their employees to Internet addiction programs to help them.
Educating employers more about why Internet abuse occurs and giving them alternatives to firing a possibly otherwise good employee may end up being a win-win situation for all involved.
One thing is for sure, the Internet is here to stay and it has become part of most people's every day life.
