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Putting teeth in technology policies

Twenty-six percent of employers have fired workers for misusing the Internet, and another 25% have terminated employees for e-mail misuse, according to a survey from the American Management Association (AMA) and The ePolicy Institute.

     Seventy-six percent of companies say they monitor workers’ Web site connections. Nearly two-thirds (65%) use software to block connections to inappropriate Web sites—a 27% increase since 2001, when AMA and ePolicy last surveyed electronic monitoring and surveillance policies and procedures in the workplace.

     Thirty-six percent of employers say they track content, keystrokes and time spent at the keyboard. Another 50% store and review employees’computer files.

     Concern over litigation and the role electronic evidence can play in lawsuits and investigations has spurred more employers to implement electronic technology policies, says ePolicy. One in five employers has had employee e-mail subpoenaed by courts and regulators and another 13% have battled workplace lawsuits triggered by employee e-mail.

     The survey also found employers concerned about inappropriate telephone use, with 57% saying they block access to 900 lines and other unauthorized phone numbers. The number of employers who monitor the amount of time employees spend on the phone and track the numbers called has jumped to 51%, up from 9% in 2001.

     A total of 526 U.S. companies participated in the survey. Click here for more information about the survey.

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