A quarter of UK companies have dismissed employees for internet misconduct with most sackings for online porn, according to a survey from Websense International.
The survey of 544 human resources (HR) managers and officers from some of the UK?s largest corporations, employing an average of 2,500 people – found that 72 per cent of UK firms have dealt with internet misuse in the workplace. In addition, 69 percent of all dismissals were associated with on-line pornography. After pornography, web chat rooms (26 per cent) and personal e-mail browsing (23 per cent) were the second and third most-frequent complaints brought to the attention of the HR department, respectively. Forty per cent of all complaints were brought to HR by co-workers unhappy with their colleagues wasting time on the internet.
Dismissals cover-up
While internet misuse within British companies is a common problem, it is an issue rarely discussed publicly, say Websense. According to the survey, HR managers get involved with an average of one complaint per month, yet most prefer to deal with the problem by having a quiet word with the person in question (56pc), followed by a verbal warning (29pc). Nearly a quarter (23pc) resort to dismissing the employee.
Price to pay
Jonathan Naylor, barrister in the Employment, Pensions and Benefits Group of Morgan Cole law firm, says: ?Dismissing an employee for Internet misuse is a substantial cost to the employer. While there are the obvious costs of advertising for new hires, recruitment, training and supervision, there are also additional financial burdens caused by the interruption to work patterns, the damage to morale and the negative publicity to the organisation as a result of the dismissal.?
Illegal software
Geoff Haggart, vice president at Websense, adds: ?Companies are increasingly looking to protect themselves and their employees from the legal implications from viewing pornography or downloading illegal software. EIM software supports an organisation’s efforts to improve employee productivity, conserve network bandwidth and save storage costs. It also automates management of the internet and provides flexibility that enables employees to access acceptable content at appropriate times, such as their lunch hours.?
Twenty Minutes
According to the survey, HR managers and officers believe that 20 minutes a day for personal internet surfing is a fair and acceptable amount of time. However, respondents also noted that they believe the average time employees spend doing personal surfing is actually closer to 30 minutes a day. People with their own offices may be the worst offenders at abusing their internet privileges according to 57 pc of HR personnel, who believe more personal surfing gets done behind closed doors. Visit www.websense.com
