Sacked for excessive internet use !!

KiKi

LadyMissA wrote: »

And it is against the law to give a bad reference you would have prob just got one.

:wall: It is not against the law in the slightest. You can say anything you like in a reference, as long as it's factually correct.

KiKi

SueC_2

SarEl wrote: »

Well, since I work 18 hour days most of the time I wouldn't know.

Although in fairness, you do seem to spend quite a few of those 18 hours on the internet...

smileylondongal

thegirlintheattic wrote: »

Depends on your job. I used to do low-level customer service in a very quiet workplace. I could often go an hour without any customers. There was nothing else that could be done work wise and so the boss said internet use was fine, as long as when the customer came it immediately finished.

Similarly I also have done waking night shifts whilst doing care work. Nothing else for me to do but sit there, which would have led to sleeping, so my employer had no issues with internet on phones or reading.

You can't make such sweeping statements.

Completely disagree with you here. If your manager agrees for you to do this, I would get it in writing! your manager (unless they're the owner) does not set the rules for the entire company. I'd be wary of following this line of approach in case they ever have anything against you in the future, you just can't be too careful.

The simple fact is you're paid to do a job not go on the internet -if you're bored, find something useful to do. Simples.

SarEl

SueC wrote: »

Although in fairness, you do seem to spend quite a few of them on the internet...

Not that it is any of your business, but I run the internet constantly wherever I am - office based or not, because it is my source for case files and legal references, and I am also about to take a sabbatical break and am therefore clear of court cases. Which is still not relevant to anything since I can do as I like - nobody employs me so if I wanted to spend 18 hours on facebook (which I am not a member of) or internet shopping I can do as I please.

Any

SarEl wrote: »

You keep repeating that you did not falsify timesheets because your work was completed. Did you produce billable hours timesheets - that is, timesheets based on work produced; or timesheets that are based on working hours - that is, when you were at your workstation and working. If the latter then it is still falsifying timeseheets! You are being paid to work between certain hours, not for the amount of work produced. If you can verify the threats made against you by your manager, then you may stand some chance of showing this to be unfair, but I do agree that this would have been key information to raise in the OP, not several pages later, and a tribunal is going to take a similar view - without evidence of what you say then you would raise it after the event, but that does not make it true.

I think that THIS is the most important issue here.

No matter what people think about using phones, internet, making coffet, taking more then 2 loo breaks in a day... everything has to be reasonable unless said otherwise.

Reasonably most jobs are covered in such a way, that person has enough work to do plus covers part of job for anyone else when off sick, on holiday etc. Sometimes people pop on and off the internet, loo, phone etc...when they have the time. Everyone has time to do their internet banking at work, no one is going to tell me otherwise!!! (office base jobs obviously).
Many jobs expect you to work to deadline and there are times when you stay unpaid overtime (especially higher positions) to finish for the deadline. Other times you get blank half an hour waiting for something to come in.
It is about what is reasonable.

BUT in this case if the OP was browsing internet and then filling overtime expecting to get paid for it, there is no way OP has a case.

If the company cannot prove how much time OP spent on the internet, no extra money claimed and there was a push before into resigning, the company has no case against OP.

Question also is how much of it can OP and the company prove.

So whether that overtime would be paid for makes a big difference.

scheming_gypsy

I don't think overtime has been mentioned from the OP. From the information they've given (disclaimer - minus the bits i've forgotten); the OP's boss is saying that because they've put a time sheet in from 9 - 5 but been on the internet at some point between those times.... they're claiming for time that they shouldn't be.

Any

scheming_gypsy wrote: »

I don't think overtime has been mentioned from the OP. From the information they've given (disclaimer - minus the bits i've forgotten); the OP's boss is saying that because they've put a time sheet in from 9 - 5 but been on the internet at some point between those times.... they're claiming for time that they shouldn't be.

I assumed that is what the timesheet was for, because most office based jobs are not timesheet based unless they only get the hours down paid.. (as SarlE is saying).
Office jobs are usually set office hours so no need for timesheets.

All just assuming obviously, OP hasn't mentioned.

pinkshoes

KiKi wrote: »

Re the internet usage policy, that probably won't be of any help. It seems that the company has been clever enough to go for falsifying of timesheets, not internet usage. It doesn't matter what they were doing that wasn't work - they weren't doing the work, but said on their timesheets that they were, and that's all that matters.

That's true, but surely it would show as internet usage even if you have a browser open but not in use?

i.e. lots of the work I do involves running programs that require waiting for a few minutes each time, so while waiting I read the news on-line. I leave the browser open so that each time I have to wait a minute, I can just read the news, as it saves opening and closing the browser all the time.

Surely that would then record as me having the internet on ALL DAY, yet I still get all my work done on time?

Sachin

Time sheets are used to show time spent on projects to be used to bill the clients on time spent on their projects

scheming_gypsy

Sachin wrote: »

Time sheets are used to show time spent on projects to be used to bill the clients on time spent on their projects

i'd have been tempted to ask if they'll be refunding the clients