Suspended for inappropriate internet usage at work

Bogof_Babe

It never hurts to keep your eyes open for opportunities. I hope there is someone among your senior colleagues who would be prepared to give you a good reference should you need one. I'd try to get them onside now rather than later if you can.

milly09

I hope so.

Thanks for all the replies, i feel so stupid

sharkie

If your company has a union rep consult them, and perhaps join - better late than never!

Yes, you are not a member, but the company is making a precedent case that will affect all non union members and members together in the future. Even if you are not in a union they may still represent you somewhat, as it will be also protecting their members rights in the future too, as once a precedent is set then it is hard to go back.

Again, sooner is better than later.

milly09

i think most are with unison

should i contact them tomorrow?

Zazen999

milly09 wrote: »

i think most are with unison

should i contact them tomorrow?

Probably Milly, if you want their advice.

sharkie

milly09 wrote: »

i think most are with unison

should i contact them tomorrow?

Er, tomorrow morning sounds good - unless you have something else on? Find out if they are open and visit them!!! It is a lot easier to say 'No' on the phone, slamming it down, compared to physically marching someone out of the office Also you can pay your subscription too - so take your wage slip along.

Also if the company is large they may have more than one rep, and there is probably one or more pitbull rep there, allong with the sheep ones. You need to ask a members of staff if their rep is any good? Ask a good few members of staff and you will get a picture of how things lie. Ask if they know of staff that have been in trouble/disciplined and contact them.

Do you or your friends know any IT guys - not management? Most are open and know what is generally happening, even though it is not their job. Ask how things are being measured and what is being traced/looked for, what is the name of the software and how it works.

Think unison cost £20 per month

Keeping_Motivated

milly09 wrote: »

I hope so.

Thanks for all the replies, i feel so stupid

Awe don't feel stupid. You've made a mistake (which I am guilty of too) and you have not done anything to hurt anyone or anything criminal. You have got me thinking that I need to be careful with the internet at work too, its easy to get lulled into a false sense of security when all our work is done and the internet can become the modern version of 'office chatting' I suppose. I have never used Facecbook but I have logged on here and also check my personal emails often I knew MSE was pushing it but was genuinely clueless that I shouldn't check my personal emails? So alot of us are guilty of this kind of thing, try and not be too hard on yourself and concentrate your efforts in finding our all the information you can and planning with maybe Acas (see below) as to exactly what you should be saying at this meeting to sort this out. Maybe write down some bullet points to atke in with you.

Ring ACAS www.acas.org.uk and see if they can give you any advice/guidance, its a free service.


Good luck

venus_in_furs

In one place i worked everyone was on the Internet all day. Literally when someones back was turned they would be on youtube/facebook/ebay/shopping etc. I never did as i was one of the rare people who actually wanted to work (makes the day go much faster) and not moan at the end of the day like the others that i hadn't got my all work done. Once at lunch time i went to check my hotmail inbox, one of the bosses happened to see me and i got a right telling off! I couldn't believe it. I didn't even realise that during lunchtime i wasn't allowed to check my personal emails?!

It's just the unfair side of life. I learnt a valuable lesson anyway, go on your mobile Internet if you want to check your emails! haha.

I hope they don't come down too hard on you anyway. Good luck

Bogof_Babe

It's half their own fault for having the Internet available on staff computers, if they don't want you to use it. I'm sure it could be set up so that you could only access the in house Intranet.

sharkie

Two more things: you have been suspended from work for 2 weeks, if you do visit in person it is probably not a good idea to visit friends, pop your head in the old dept, be seen, let people know you are ons site, contacting them from a work phone (internal calls may have a special ring) - get the idea. After you have done your bits, you can go for a drink outside work, but do not tell them you have been on the premises or mention union etc - just as a precaution.

2) if you go to a formal meeting, all to see all the data for everyone and make sure that yours is the highest and that they are not covering up management or favourites etc. Take a friend to record minutes (one with good computer skills would also be good) and perhaps you phone has a voice record function that was accidentally pressed before the meeting - it is only illegal if you try to use it in court/legally

If they check your PC in the two weeks while you have been away, then this is illegal. There is a set legal forensic way to check PCs. Some things they must do is isolate the PC/room, and most importantly inform you beforehand and that you are under investigation and have removed your pc or/and are going to examine your PC.

Get ready to be presented with a whole load of sites to explain away. At work we get 1.5 hours surfing time a day, however if i go into gmail and leave it on overnight, when I get in the 1.5 hours has already been used up because that web page keeps automatically checking. Some web pages have link to other places that keep refreshing ads which if these pages are left running in the background (a) may log as computer time used (b) download increases (c) you may end up connecting to strange sites or referrals (d) time stamp of the data make you look like you have been surfing all day or longer. Now on top of this there is the already mentioned spyware which often shows up as again surfing all day, and the real evil twin - trojans which covers a whole load of nasties down to remote control of your computer and possible access to corporate data.

It may just be easier to bundle it all together and blame you rather than let you explain your case, sending you packing - again I could be wrong, but we only do suspensions for very serious cases like highly inappropriate material and hacking. Sometimes web filters and proxies will capture you email pictures and messages too.

Also often senior management can often protect their staff form this - if they want. This does not seem to be happening in your case. If you manage to keep your job, realise that they probably do not like you, may not value your efforts and think you are expendable, may not be performing to their standards. Probably time to look in a different department for a job.

Venus_in_furs another tip is do not talk on you phone while on the toilet or staircase, especially if you are looking for jobs. Sound just seems to travel out from these rooms with hard surfaces.