Disciplinary Hearing - How to work out how much time spent emailing ?

marybelle01

njm123 wrote: »

and before the internet and I think it was Work!

No - it was just often harder to work out abuse of landlines!

Hiccups_2

garythekat wrote: »

I have been suspended from work for misuse of internet and sending emails at work.

What does your company policy on internet / email use say? It actually sounds to me like you shouldn't have been using it for personal use at all during work time!!

If you are not supposed to use the internet / email for personal use at all then they won't care about your typing speed. If you try to work out how long you've spent actually typing and sending these e-mails then you are only drawing even more attention to amount of time you were wasting instead of working.

They will probably be more sympathetic to someone who apologises and explains that they are genuinely surprised by the number of emails sent and didn't realise because (for example) they were often multitasking, than someone who tries to nitpick about typing speeds and how the time has been calculated.

KiKi

7%?!?!?!

Let's say you're on a salary of £30k. That's £2,100 you've been paid to do nothing. That's over half an hour every day of not doing work.

I agree with Emmzi. Grovel, grovel, grovel - don't try and prove that "it's only 7%" - they'll fall about laughing.

KiKi

Mischa8

I am incredibly careful about the amount of time spent emailing.

When I come in in the morning both me and my colleague (though not always do we do this) tend to do the Facebook/Hotmail check thing.

However this is on our phones too and I recently got a fab new iPhone so no need to do this at work PC.

However, certain sites before came into my company email (brand alley etc) which I am now thinking of diverting to my personal email.

I did, I freely admit, used to spend time on internet and sometimes in chatroom, indeed I think (it was never said directly to me) but I heard someone whisper about it) it was due to internet usage. Someone was checking up.

so now, I really do tone down what I do and try to save for lunchtimes. Even on smart phones (my colleague recently got an iPhone too) the time can add up, I clocked her one morning spending almost the entire morning on iPhone whilst our boss was out.

as someone else says, you are not paid to do this, you are paid to work. and people DO check up and WILL discipline you for it.

I would keep in mind you may get a warning but be darned careful in future and keep it to lunchtimes or better still get a smart phone. You can also email etc on toilet/tea breaks if and when you get these.

Evilm

Mischa8 wrote: »

However, certain sites before came into my company email (brand alley etc) which I am now thinking of diverting to my personal email.

Slightly off topic but I've had to access archives of old employees email before and not only have I seen these but I've seen people using work email to apply for other jobs before! :eek:

MissSarah1972

For a full time worker say 5 days a week 7% is 18 days emailing non stop. You have in effect taken another years holiday entitlement and got paid for emailing! LOL

Sorry but at my last co we could use the email as they said the odd one or two from family is ok but you could not be seen to be having a converstation with someone all day long on the email as you are meant to be working. Just like I think it's wrong for people to have their mobiles on their desk and answer them when they ring and walk out into the hallway to take the call!

As for the internet we only had access to it in our lunch time and it was turned off afterwards.

I think you are just going to have to accept what happens and learn from it.

BobQ

OP,

With respect, it really does not matter what other people at work do or say they do, you are the one facing a hearing.

The first issue is what is your company policy? Is there a boot up message on your computer warning about personal use? is there an internet use policy? If so, does it ban private use of internet/phone etc? If not then you have some wriggle room. If it says personal use is not allowed it does not matter what others do, you have been challenged and need to grovel. Has your boss defended your use or is it your boss who has convened the hearing?

If reasonable personal use is allowed you need to argue that the time spent was reasonable, mostly done before work or after it or at lunchtime or in another scheduled break. If so you need evidence to support this. I doubt they will do the "7%" analysis you have done and will be more concerned with the number of mails or the length of particular emails.

Its none of our business what private use you make of the internet but it is your employers. Even if you use it in your own time they could be brought into disrepute by a message you send from a work IP address. Even forwarding a sexist joke sent to you may be contrary to your employers policy. Obviously if they do have a policy you can plead a degree of mitigation through a lack of clarity.

Remember you should be able to take a colleague or a union rep to a hearing.

sho_me_da_money

Next time, download MSN Messnger, Pidgin, Digsby, or an IM client to chat providing your access to these programs/sites isnt blocked. Alternatively, you could just log into a web based mail client and chat away without it being noted by your IT dept. I would recommend using Gmail and logging in via HTTPS.

Hiccups_2

Just thought I'd wade into the argument regarding whether or not people should use company internet during work time.

Frankly, I don't think it's black and white. A lot depends on your employer and also the kind of job you do.

If you're doing piecemeal work where you are paid for your productivity per hour, for example an hour's worth of generating sales leads, then I think it would be expected that you perform your hour's worth of work.

However, if you work in a creative or problem solving job, sometimes when you find you're hitting a brick wall with a particular solution, you need to take a little five or ten minute break of taking your mind elsewhere so that you can turn back to the problem with a fresh pair of eyes. All the places I've worked have no issues with using internet and taking breaks whenever we like, providing that all deadlines are met.

My personal opinion is that employers should look at what each employee delivers at the end of the day and that it's up to par, as people's working patterns and concentration can be different. Short breaks when they are needed can keep someone working at 100% for the rest of the time, as opposed to 70 or 80% if they were allowed no breaks. A flexible employer makes for a happy workforce. Google is a good example.

The problem only arises when someone inevitably takes the mick or does not work productively with such a pattern. Then you end up with a situation where one person is underperforming and this needs to be addressed. However, said person then complains that other people do it too (despite the fact that those people are not underperforming) - hence we get the blanket policy to cover all employees.

VitaK

Adding bits and bobs here and there do add up. Going into a hearing and quoting a crude and possible inaccurate estimate of timewaste will only demonstrate that you haven't understood why you are there. Misuse of internet and sending private emails, High volume.