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Call Employees on Inappropriate Computer and Internet Use

In just one week, 7,700 workers at the U.S. Department of the Interior made more than one million visits to gaming and auction sites, despite a ban on such activity. The time spent on the sites factored out to 2,000 hours of lost productivity in a single week and a potential of more than 100,000 hours a year, according to a federal report that detailed the abuse.

The findings are potent reminders of the double-edged sword the Internet has become. It enhances work, but it detracts from it.

Make sure your policy makes clear how employees put your business at risk when they visit unauthorized sites during work and what the consequences are. Your company could be sued for sexual harassment. Or it could be thrust into the public eye because an employee used the company computer to access kiddy porn.

Some employers ban non-business uses of the computer all together, even during lunchtime. Others allow “discrete” use. Craft a policy that makes sense for your office. You shouldn’t punish the whole office because of a few bad apples. Enlist the help of your information-technology staff or hire a specialist to monitor your system for policy violations.