Internet and the Workplace
The Internet and the Workplace
The Internet has become a pervasive presence in the American workplace. Two-thirds of employees in medium and large companies in the United States now have Internet access, compared with fifteen percent only two years ago, according to a sampling of 500 companies surveyed by the IntelliQuest Corporation. (IntelliQuest) Workers with Web access typically spend five to ten hours per week sending personal e-mail or searching for information not specifically related to their jobs. Popular entertainment sites, such as ESPN's Sport Zone, where visitors can check sport scores, and POGO where they can play games sustain heavy traffic during the work day. As everything from CD's to cars go on sale over the Web, some employees are also spending more time shopping on line. The Internet offers many new opportunities for companies. Companies using the Internet can reduce operating costs, because human tasks can be automated, data can be transferred more efficiently, and the company needs less real estate and inventory. In addition, companies using the Internet can monitor their competition, quickly retrieve information, and facilitate communication with employees and customers. The establishment of a site on the World Wide Web enables companies to operate on a larger scale, and easily expand product lines. However, in addition to using the Internet, especially the World Wide Web and e-mail for work-related purposes, employees are also using the Internet for personal use, whether for sending personal e-mail messages, playing games, downloading pornography, ordering goods online, checking stock prices, or gambling. Accordingly, many issues have come to light involving employee e-mail and Internet use. Employers have to question how much, if any, personal use of the Internet and e-mail to permit in the workplace. Employers are also grappling with the question of whether to monitor Internet use and whether to block access to certain
The Internet has become a pervasive presence in the American workplace. Two-thirds of employees in medium and large companies in the United States now have Internet access, compared with fifteen percent only two years ago, according to a sampling of 500 companies surveyed by the IntelliQuest Corporation. (IntelliQuest) Workers with Web access typically spend five to ten hours per week sending personal e-mail or searching for information not specifically related to their jobs. Popular entertainment sites, such as ESPN's Sport Zone, where visitors can check sport scores, and POGO where they can play games sustain heavy traffic during the work day. As everything from CD's to cars go on sale over the Web, some employees are also spending more time shopping on line. The Internet offers many new opportunities for companies. Companies using the Internet can reduce operating costs, because human tasks can be automated, data can be transferred more efficiently, and the company needs less real estate and inventory. In addition, companies using the Internet can monitor their competition, quickly retrieve information, and facilitate communication with employees and customers. The establishment of a site on the World Wide Web enables companies to operate on a larger scale, and easily expand product lines. However, in addition to using the Internet, especially the World Wide Web and e-mail for work-related purposes, employees are also using the Internet for personal use, whether for sending personal e-mail messages, playing games, downloading pornography, ordering goods online, checking stock prices, or gambling. Accordingly, many issues have come to light involving employee e-mail and Internet use. Employers have to question how much, if any, personal use of the Internet and e-mail to permit in the workplace. Employers are also grappling with the question of whether to monitor Internet use and whether to block access to certain
Bibliography: IntelliQuest Information Group, Inc., Latest IntelliQuest Survey Reports 62 Million American Adults Access the Internet/Online Services (Feb. 5, 1998) http://www.intelliquest.com/about/release41.htm James A. Martin, You Are Being Watched, PC World, Nov. 1997, Adam J. Conti & James W. Wimberly, The Developing Law of Cyberspace (Jan. 1996) Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Technology Raises Legal Questions, Visions (May/June 1996) (visited May 8, 1998)