While the majority of UK employers still appear relaxed about e-mail and Internet misuse at work, there is a growing trend to punish workers for breaches in organisational policy, according to new research.
The IRS survey, based on responses from 63 private and public sector employers, revealed that almost a third had dealt with between two and five disciplinary cases, while a fifth of employers had dealt with one disciplinary case. Of the employers willing to divulge policy information, just over half had chosen not to take formal action during the past 12 months.
Other findings include:
- All of the respondents cited "accessing pornography" on the Internet as a forbidden option, 96% cited the sending of obscene e-mails; 63% cited e-mails that denigrate colleagues, Internet gambling (63%), using web-based e-mail (45%), Internet shopping (31%) and sending non-work related e-mails (14%).
- Most organisations have formal policies setting the boundaries of acceptable use, with 47% saying that they operate a standalone policy dealing with employee use of e-mail and the Internet and 30% saying that it formed part of a wider electronic communication policy.
Training and the labelling of non-work related e-mails is less rigorous.
- 36% of employers encourage the use of formal business language in e-mails while 31% insist upon it.
- 31% encourage employers to report the receipt of inappropriate e-mails while 34% insist upon it.
- 27% encourage the clear labelling of non work-related e-mails while 16% insist upon it.
- 28% encourage participation in training on e-mail use and a further 28% insist upon it.
