5 Things NOT To Do On Your Computer At Work 

If you’re reading this at work, you should probably be asking yourself: Am I actually allowed to browse online and read news stories at the office? The parameters for computer use at work (and even at home) are often confusing. We communicate, network, watch our TV shows, do our grocery shopping, and get our news on our computers. But it’s no free-for-all. Employees should know exactly what their employer’s policies are for e-mail and Internet usage, because workers are losing their jobs after computer-based missteps. Here are five ways to log on and lose your job:

1.) Blogging. While some blogging advocates say a well-executed blog can boost your career by presenting your best side to the HR executives Googling you, there are limitations.

2.) Playing. Solitaire, that ever seductive way to while away the hours, is probably not a great choice for the workplace. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg caught sight of a solitaire game on a city employee’s computer screen in 2006 and fired him. “I expect all city workers, including myself, to work hard,” Bloomberg said then.

Richard Bayer, chief operating officer of the Five O’Clock Club, an outplacement and career coaching organization, says employees who use a company computer for personal matters on company time — whether playing solitaire or checking on their 401(k)’s — are essentially stealing from their employer. “It’s a new, 21st-century form of theft,” Bayer says.

3.) Look at Dirty Pics. Nearly one third of bosses have fired workers for misusing the Internet, according to a recent study by the American Management Association and the ePolicy Institute. 84% of those employers said the reason was the viewing, downloading, or uploading of inappropriate or offensive content. The computer system belongs to the company, and courts have consistently sided with employers when it comes to computer-related terminations. So look at that stuff on your own time.

4.) Posting Your Pictures. Social networking may quickly gain an air of formality. Employers are beginning to monitor social networking sites. Not only do companies fear employees posting proprietary information, but they also don’t want to find photos of the boss dancing on the table drunk at the holiday party. Opinions posted that run contrary to company values can also get employees into trouble.

5.) Write R-rated e-mails. More than a quarter of employers have sent an employee packing for e-mail-related offenses, according to the American Management Association/ePolicy Institute survey, and 62% of those said it was for inappropriate or offensive language. When you write, just assume that someone inside the company is reading it. Most of the 43% of companies that monitor e-mail do it automatically, but 40% have live human beings reading and reviewing it.

Employers largely are concerned with their legal liability noting that a growing number of companies are choosing to archive electronically stored information, rather than erase it, and it’s subject to discovery in a federal lawsuit.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 19th, 2008 at 5:10 pm and is filed under My Life At Work, People Are Funny, Studies and Surveys, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.