Employee playing games at work

Savvy_Sue

prowla wrote: »

Well, there should certainly be some "acceptable use" type rules at work.

Yes, and he should have been made aware of them.

shaunhouse wrote: »

All application activity is logged during work hours on our network. It gives a breakdown by application usage to which the game was 53%.

And also made aware that monitoring is not only possible, but takes place.

shaunhouse wrote: »

He’s been with us over a year. A good employee but he was spoke to about a month ago as bad little habits were creeping in. Nothing like playing on games but it’s the first time I’ve been away from the office while he’s been with the company

Then if you decide to dismiss it won't be hard. When you say 'spoken to' was that a formal warning, verbal or written?

nicechap wrote: »

Investigate properly before jumping to conclusions.

Is there a company policy about using company computers for personal entertainment - if so how does use of facebook fit with it?

Do your employees know you have remote monitoring access? Do others? Could other remote accessers be playing championship manger?

Are there any circumstances that would be allowable for such an activity? e.g. they are a single parent and needed urgent parental leave but rather than disturb you have bought their child in and are occupying them by championship manager whilst getting on with keeping the business running.

Only after finding out the facts and any mitigating factors would I take action. Which might include dismissal - but if you dismiss them before you are due to get back, will you be happy to lose some of your holiday?

That's all excellent advice.

theoretica

Also, is the monitoring time sensitive enough to confirm this was during work time - not for instance over the lunch hour?

20aday

Perhaps he thought you wouldn't find out?

Regardless, when you return from your holiday, sit down with him and find out why he decided to play said computer game during working hours, and whilst not on a break?

Drives me potty when I see people on their phones at work, when they should be working; especially when they've just had a break...

Zebra881

Does the software you use to manage use record the actual time using that window, or the amount of time the window was open... say, in a background? Please correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Championship Manager a bit like a Fantasy Football game, requiring very little effort or time to play? I've probably spent more time on Facebook in my office using my phone on tea breaks etc than I would need to play that game. Maybe the actual usage statistics are a bit off?

I've always worked in offices, from busy contact centres where your admin breaks between calls are down to 15 seconds, and you only have thin client setups so cant install anything... to more relaxed places where I ran the office on a construction site and had my own laptop which wasn't connected to a network. In both types of workplace many things went on like birthdays, sweepstakes, fantasy football, lotteries etc that took time away from serious work. On Friday mornings on the site we would disappear for sainsburys breakfast knowing that the project manager was at head office. At DWP we would spend one week at a time doing post between months on calls, and our breaks weren't monitored so we used flexi time to go into Manchester and get donuts and take 2hr lunches (our own time but not really permitted to take more than an hour at a time). Who doesnt use company email or internet between work? Most places allow it now.

What I'm getting at is that in this day and age most people take the mick a bit when management aren't there... from horseplay to chatting too much between calls etc... while the cat's away the mice will play!

I think telling your employee you are monitoring their software usage should be enough to set them on the straight and narrow but it's way too harsh to fire them... otherwise like the example I used shouldn't people doing sweepstakes and fantasy football leagues in works time not also be punished. Some people I work with spend hours walking round the building collecting money for fun runs or taking really long breaks but they're good people and maybe just need reminding that it's not a social club. Maybe your employee feels relaxed at work which can be a good thing... everyone messes up sometimes. Persistently making the same mistake with no effort to improve is one thing but losing your job over a silly mistake is another. I'm on the side of give them a chance to put it right!

getmore4less

shaunhouse wrote: »

All application activity is logged during work hours on our network. It gives a breakdown by application usage to which the game was 53%.

What are you using to do that?

It may not be telling you what you think it does.

sportsarb

My first reply in this thread was a joking one but I can agree with what some others have said, having invested thousands of hours in to football management games, you can play them extremely passively.

I used to set team tactics etc. then 'go on holiday' in game and my assistant manager would take over using the instructions I had set. A lot of hours could be invested that way without me ever actually giving any input other than those set before the holiday.

My gut feeling is that he shouldn't be sacked without first being invited to a meeting to gather all possible information on the whys and what fors.

bap98189

shaunhouse wrote: »

All application activity is logged during work hours on our network. It gives a breakdown by application usage to which the game was 53%.

I think you need to be sure exactly what information you are getting. As an example, I've had MS Access running on my PC for about 3 hours today, but I have used it for less than 5 minutes. I looked something up first thing this morning, but didn't close the program down once I was done and it's still open in the background.

BoiledBreadTomatoSauce

shaunhouse wrote: »

I pay the employee an hourly wage and expect him to do the work that I set.

He did do the work that you set, though it seems your expectation is that once he completes the work he should go over and above. This is despite the fact you've still got him on hourly pay, even though he is at management level.

There are few things more toxic in the work environment than bosses who think they're doing staff a favour by employing them.

TELLIT01

I agree that all the facts need to be known before acting. I would be inclined to have a meeting with this person as early as possible on the first day back in the office. There should be nothing strange in doing that as they have been covering the OP's work and it is sensible to review how things have gone at the earliest opportunity. Ask how things went, how busy they were etc. Once the response is given would be the opportunity to say that you had reviewed the system usage stats over the weekend, and can they explain why over 50% of their time seems to have been spent on Championship Manager? It may be that is has been chugging away in the background with no interaction, and the initial reaction to the question may be as meaningful as what they actually say.
The staff member is obviously quite highly valued by the OP otherwise they wouldn't have been put in charge in their absence, so the best outcome all round would be to give a formal warning, plus advising all staff that playing games on company computers is not acceptable at any time.

shaunhouse

As always with the internet some great, thought out responses, some of which have come from experience and the odd minority with something stupid like I’m a toxic manager or slave driver because I’m not happy about 50% of the companies money paying towards an employee paying computer games (get real). If anything I’ve gave him freedom for the first time to prove himself and he’s abused it.

Today he spent 82% of his active time, so that’s he time he is moving the mouse around or using the keyboard with champ manager on the screen.

I do value the employee and I’ll be sitting him down the first day I’m back and showing him the stats on how much time he’s spent on the game and how little he’s done for the £x amount I’ve paid him for the time.