HR Punishes Web Surfers, but Doesn’t Flag Abuses

Surfing at Work: Half of HR managers in a recent survey said they have taken steps to discipline employees for squandering precious production time by browsing the Internet – mostly for accessing pornography and other inappropriate content while on the job. Equally worrisome is the rising popularity of Facebook, MySpace and other social networking sites, even though other research shows that companies are turning to these Web sites more often as recruiting mechanisms. The study by London-based Clearswift, which polled 300 human resource executives, reveals that nearly two-thirds are blocking employee access to such sites.

However, HR professionals are reacting in knee-jerk fashion. They are not taking the lead on monitoring employees’ Internet usage, according to the survey. That responsibility falls mostly to information technology departments, who flag inappropriate usage and take the lead role in steering corporate policies regarding Internet access.