UK Public Sector Employers Disciplining More Workers for Web Surfing

An investigation by a leading UK newspaper has found that a significant number of public sector employees (at government departments, police forces, and municipal councils) have been fired or otherwise disciplined for misusing the Internet or e-mail while at work. The relevant unions confirm that the number of disputes with management over employee use of social networking sites at work has increased significantly. The unions have asked management to provide clearer guidelines about employees' Internet usage at work. Some studies have found that social networking sites cost up to £130 million per day in lost productivity due to employees who spend inordinate amounts of time on the sites instead of working. According to the investigation, more and more employers are banning web sites from the workplace that they consider to be inappropriate, and they are cracking down on employees who view offensive material at work or forward offensive e-mails. For example, the Ministry of Justice fired 30 employees for inappropriate use of the Internet at work, and the Department for Work and Pensions disciplined 313 employees for similar offences. The statistics unearthed were surprising. Over the past three years, at least 1,722 employees in the UK public sector were disciplined for inappropriate usage of the Internet or e-mail at work. 132 employees were fired, 41 resigned, 868 received formal warnings, and 686 received other forms of warning or punishment for these offences. On the other side of the issue, there are those who claim that employers should show leniency towards their employees. Cary Cooper, a professor of organizational psychology and health at Lancaster University, commented: "Britain has some of the longest working hours in the developed world. Employers have created this culture. It is natural for people to have to use work computers for organizing their personal life." For more information, see: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/nov/12/news.facebook Summary by: Andrei Edwards