internetabuse
isitcostingmore
thanyouthink?
AccordingtorecentresearchemployeessurfingsocialnetworkingwebsitescostUK
companiesanastounding£132madayinlostproductivity. Angela Protheroe, partner
atRubinLewisO’Brien,warnsGwentbusinessesofthedangersofnothaving
appropriatemeasuresinplacetodealwiththis.
The internet is an essential tool in policycouldleadtodisciplinaryaction. figuresshowthat,althoughemployers
carrying out the day-to-day running FigureswhichshowUKbusinesses arebecomingincreasinglyawareof
of most businesses. losingmillionsonadailybasisinlost problemscausedbyfailureto
However,withmanyemployees productivityarestaggering. implementaclearinternetande-mail
havingunlimitedaccesstothe Butbusinessesshouldnotjustbe usagepolicy,manyhavestillfailedto
internet,someareexploitingitfor concernedaboutlostproductivity. adoptaclearstanceontheissue.
personaluse,particularlywiththe Failuretoadequatelymonitorthe Anewconcerntoemployers,aside
adventofsocialnetworkingsites. sitestheiremployeesaccesscould fromtheissueofinternetusage
Asaresultofthis,someemployers landtheminhotwaterlegallyifthey abuse,istheriseincyberbullying
allowtheiremployeestousethe failtopreventillegalorinappropriate cases.
internetforpersonalusebeforeand downloadcontent,thepostingof Thisisanewtypeofbullying
afterworkorduringlunchbreaks, slanderous‘blog’messagesrelatingto whichinvolvestextmessages,e-mail,
whileothershaveatotalbanonsocial co-workers,orthedistributionofe- instantmessengerorcommentson
networkingsitesaltogether. mailswhichotheremployeesmayfind socialnetworkingsitestointimidate,
Withthetemptationbeingalltoo offensive. harass,orupsetthevictim.
strongforemployeestousethe Researchalsoshowsthatthethree Anemployercouldpotentiallybe
internetforpersonaluse,aninternet mostcommonlydisciplinedcyber liableifcyberbullyingisbeing
ande-mailusagepolicyisessential. crimesareexcessivepersonaluseof conductedduringworktime,
Employersneedtoensurethat theinternetore-mail(althoughless particularlyifitisacompanycomputer
theirstanceisclearlyoutlinedintheir than10percentofthesepeoplewere ormobilephonebeingusedtobully
policies,andthatall subsequentlydismissed),sending someone.
employees pornographice-mails,andaccessing Asanemployer,youshouldensure
areaware pornographicwebsites. thatyourpoliciesonbullyingand
thatany These harassmentincludecyberbullying.Itis
breachof anareaoftenoverlooked,butis
the becomingincreasinglyimportantin
today’sage.
Newresearchfromtheanti-
bullyingatworkinitiative,Dignityat
Work,hascalculatedthetotalcostof
bullyingforUKorganisationsin2007
tobeabout£13.75bnaftertakinginto
accountabsenteeism,staffturnover,
andlossofproductivityrelatedtothe
issue.
Whilethereisnosinglepieceof
legislationmakingcyberbullying
unlawful,thereareanumberof
potentialclaimsofwhichcompanies
couldbeatrisk.
26-27
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