Due Diligence: an Employer’s Responsibility to Monitor Employee Computer Use
Due Diligence:
An Employer’s Responsibility to Monitor Employee Computer Use
Are some employers in denial? Like the frog in the pot story, the gradual introduction of complicated electronics into the workplace has left some employers behind in their knowledge of how computer use potentially affects the workplace. While not completely unaware of these dangers, by the time the water heats up beyond jumping out of trouble, they potentially have put their company at risk, if not already in legal woes. This paper is for the employers who are not monitoring, for whatever reason. The three topics presented here concerning production loss, security threats, and a desire to safeguard company reputation should trigger a change from the status quo. Most employers are mindful of and concerned with the wasting of productive work hours with non-work Internet use. Employees who surf the web outside of work-related tasks, play online computer games, and a myriad of other things for personal use rob their company blind. Many staff are just naive of the monetary toll this takes on the company. Equally, employers are sometimes engrossed with other things to notice. Fortunate companies are able to hire IT professionals who can monitor usage. Now, we tend to think of the Internet as the major culprit, but actually this could be any type of personal use. It does not require the Internet. There are games often resident on a computer just waiting for a taker. It just so happens that in many cases where online access is available, the Internet is the door to company productivity loss. In the working world, it is known as goldbricking, cyberslacking, cyberloafing, to name a few. So how does cyberloafing financially affect the company? Say an employee takes .5 hours a day to surf, shop, or whatever else during work hours. Looking at this cost systematically, we begin with adding up the per day use of .5 hours for an entire week. At the end of the week, we have 2.5 hours
An Employer’s Responsibility to Monitor Employee Computer Use
Are some employers in denial? Like the frog in the pot story, the gradual introduction of complicated electronics into the workplace has left some employers behind in their knowledge of how computer use potentially affects the workplace. While not completely unaware of these dangers, by the time the water heats up beyond jumping out of trouble, they potentially have put their company at risk, if not already in legal woes. This paper is for the employers who are not monitoring, for whatever reason. The three topics presented here concerning production loss, security threats, and a desire to safeguard company reputation should trigger a change from the status quo. Most employers are mindful of and concerned with the wasting of productive work hours with non-work Internet use. Employees who surf the web outside of work-related tasks, play online computer games, and a myriad of other things for personal use rob their company blind. Many staff are just naive of the monetary toll this takes on the company. Equally, employers are sometimes engrossed with other things to notice. Fortunate companies are able to hire IT professionals who can monitor usage. Now, we tend to think of the Internet as the major culprit, but actually this could be any type of personal use. It does not require the Internet. There are games often resident on a computer just waiting for a taker. It just so happens that in many cases where online access is available, the Internet is the door to company productivity loss. In the working world, it is known as goldbricking, cyberslacking, cyberloafing, to name a few. So how does cyberloafing financially affect the company? Say an employee takes .5 hours a day to surf, shop, or whatever else during work hours. Looking at this cost systematically, we begin with adding up the per day use of .5 hours for an entire week. At the end of the week, we have 2.5 hours
Cited: “How to Protect Against Malicious Software.” UCLA Seasnet Computing Facility. n.d. Web. 5 July 2012 "Sexual Harassment." Title 29 Code of Federal Regulations, Pt. 1604.11. “Breaches Affecting 500 or More Individuals”. Health and Human Services. n.d. Web. 11 Jul 2012 “2007 Electronic Monitoring & Surveillance Survey: Over Half of All Employers Combined Fire Workers for E-Mail & Internet Abuse”. Electronic Discovery Navigator. 29 February 2008. Web. 15 July 2012 “Electronic Monitoring: A Poor Solution to Management Problems.” National Workrights Institute. n.d. Web. 14 July 2012.