Can i sack someone for excessive internet usage

Carl31

you could warn her that her excessive use has been noted, and that a disciplinary procedure maybe followed if she doesnt pull her socks up, but you cant just sack someone these days unless its extreme, like violence or stealing etc...

and as stated, if theres no policy, what rules is she breaking? the ones you have made up? i dont think that will stand up in court

Anyway, whats the problem with using the net? its no different from having a gossip in the tea room, you cant tell me that everyone goes to work 9-5 and does 100% work, 100% of the time, im not sure thats even healthy from a social sense

yvonne13_2

pineapple wrote: »

I have worked in places where employees have spent half their time surfing, emailing and putting bids on Ebay! Whether or not you have an internet policy, imo it's theft of time/misconduct. But I wouldn't lay yourself open to a tribunal. I would have her in and ask for an explanation then issue a warning if appropriate. Then institute a firm internet policy. Also that internet policy should restrict usage to the employees break time. They are being employed to work not to surf! But it's not just a matter of time. Just 'checking your email now and then' can impair performance as it detracts from concentration and 'being in the zone'.

If an employee has spent half there time surfing they are clearly being overpaid. Doing part time work and getting full time pay. Talk to everyone not just the person and let them know that it has been brought to your attention about excessive internet usage and now all usage will be monitored and a policy will be put in place.

Bev._2

1. Are others doing this too? As has already been said, it sounds like you have other issues with this employee & you want them gone & are looking for an excuse, any excuse to get shot of them. Hardly fair if other staff members are doing the same.

2. Vital you get some sort of policy in place. They can't be doing anything wrong if they're not actually breaking any rule.

3. You can sack someone for anything you like, but you obviously run the risk of unfair dismissal. Based on this & #2, i'd say at best (right now) you could just give them a warning. My guess would be verbal but perhaps you could go beyond this. I'd still consider it very unfair as they're not actually breaking any rules ... yet.

4. I think the point someone made - they can rack up "hits" without actually visiting sites needs to be addressed more. This would be very unfair/unlucky if they were to be sacked if these hits were being racked up without them actually going on sites.

5. Can't you block off sites? At home on the family PC, due to my younger bothers instance on visiting !!!!!! sites, i've had to set up restrictions so any such sites are instantly blocked. Perhaps you should look into this - which would target all staff & not just the one you no longer want working there.

6. If you're going to change policy, everyone needs addressing the same for fairness.

yvonne13_2

Carl31 wrote: »

you could warn her that her excessive use has been noted, and that a disciplinary procedure maybe followed if she doesnt pull her socks up, but you cant just sack someone these days unless its extreme, like violence or stealing etc...

and as stated, if theres no policy, what rules is she breaking? the ones you have made up? i dont think that will stand up in court

Anyway, whats the problem with using the net? its no different from having a gossip in the tea room, you cant tell me that everyone goes to work 9-5 and does 100% work, 100% of the time, im not sure thats even healthy from a social sense

If you ran a business and your staff spend most of the time on the net plus picked up a trojan i'm sure you would not be happy as it would be you paying to get the trojan removed and your systems anti virus re-set and trust that is not cheap.

Carl31

yvonne13 wrote: »

If you ran a business and your staff spend most of the time on the net plus picked up a trojan i'm sure you would not be happy as it would be you paying to get the trojan removed and your systems anti virus re-set and trust that is not cheap.

If i ran a company one of the first things i would do is ensure i had a secure system

and no, i wouldn't penalise for internet use. People are not robots, they need a bit of a break from time to time, be it to chat, a quiet surf on the net, toilet break etc... Excessive use, then yes i agree, but my concern would be productivity. Id rather have someone that was dynamic and a high achiever and spent half their day on the net, than someone that plodded along without really doing much other than what was expected, but played by the rules

martinthebandit

200 hits corresponds to about 10 google search pages. If she is expected to use a search engine as part of her role they could all easily be legimate.

A further option could easily be some sort of virus or someone else potentially having access to her machine.

You do need to have some fairly robust internet use and security policies in place before you can even begin to consider any sort of disciplinary action.

t0rt0ise

Surely the whole point is whether they are still doing the job. Some jobs have a finite amount of things to do and once they're done that's it. Other jobs you are waiting for customers, patients to arrive etc and if none do then there's nothing to do but wait. If the person is surfing the net instead of getting work done then they get warned for not doing the work. But it sounds as though they are still doing the work in this case so no problem.

yvonne13_2

OP is this just about internet use or is there something more going on?

Carl31,

I think you would run a company well based on what you said but you also have to look at the current climate and I personally couldn't afford to pay someone if they spent most of there time surfing and not working.
When I worked for an I.T company we worked up to 50 hours a week and I spend maybe a quarter of my time on the net using it for personal use. As I spent most of my time at work there was no way I could pay my bills ect so this was acceptable for all staff as long as the work was complete before we go home on a Friday evening sometimes until 9pm at night.

skintandscared_2

Totally depends what the job is too. I'm a secretary and some days we are flat out busy all day but other days we are given absolutely nothing to do and often spend time on the internet.

You need an IT policy before you can discipline someone for breaking so-called regulations that don't officially even exist. Have you checked how her internet use compares to other employees? If you have some problem with this employee, deal with it properly (i.e. having policies in place in a staff handbook, issuing verbal and written warnings, etc). You can't just make up reasons to sack someone.

jungle_jane

surely this thread's a wind up...