Widespread
access to the Internet in the workplace has opened up worlds of information
for employees and the companies for which they work. The downside is that it
is also possible for online employees to create new legal headaches for employers.
Numerous
variations on this theme have already occurred. A supervisor accesses sexually
explicit websites and then harasses a subordinate by passing on inappropriate
material. An employee takes text or images from the Internet and puts them into
his e‑mail, unaware that federal copyright law prohibits alteration of
copyrighted material, such as by removing the author's name or manipulating
images. Someone with too much time on his hands becomes a chat room regular
and one day the "chat" turns defamatory. A worker without much sense
of his company's privacy puts sensitive information about his employer, or worse,
trade secrets, into cyberspace.
To
minimize the inappropriate use of the Internet, to lay the groundwork for disciplinary
action when an employee acts improperly, and to minimize exposure to liability,
businesses should adopt clearly written policies on Internet access on company
time. The details of such an Internet "acceptable use policy" should
be tailored to the specific business, and care should be taken that legal requirements
are met. A few ingredients are indispensable to any policy: (1) descriptions
of what is acceptable and unacceptable use of the Internet; (2) a statement
that the computer system belongs to the company and that employees have no privacy
interest in the information passing through it; and (3) notice to employees
that their e‑mails and Internet use may be monitored.
In
short, there is a middle ground between the extremes of placing no restraints
on employees and imposing a complete ban on all personal use of the Internet.
An acceptable use policy can allow personal use within "reasonable limits,"
but specific limits will make enforcement easier and provide more protection
for the employer. For example, the employer might prohibit chain e‑mails
because of the space they take up in the company's computer system.
Warning employees about monitoring is especially important
since people tend to assume that the activities on their computers are private.
Also, since federal law prohibits interception of wire communications unless
one party consents, any monitoring should be preceded by having the employee
give written consent to it, or by having a message to the same effect appear
on computer screens when employees log on. Technological advances that created
the potential for problems may also help with the monitoring. Unusually large
files could suggest inappropriate employee use of the Internet, as files containing
graphics, video, or audio are often sizable. Filtering software can be used
to screen or block access to websites with profanity or other language that
is inappropriate to the workplace.
