- LONDON (Reuters) -- E-mail
and Internet abuse, including the downloading of pornography, has overtaken
theft of office supplies and lying to the boss as the top disciplinary
action reported in the work place, a new study said.
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- More disciplinary cases have been brought against employees
for violating company e-mail and Internet policies than for acts of dishonesty,
violence or health and safety breaches, according to a survey by KLegal,
a law firm associated with global accounting group KPMG, and Personnel
Magazine.
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- KLegal and Personnel Magazine compiled the survey in
June, polling 212 UK companies. Survey participants reported taking action
in 358 disciplinary cases related to e-mail and Internet abuses compared
to 326 cases for incidents of violence, dishonesty and safety breaches.
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- The survey is the latest evidence that corporate chiefs
are cracking down on employees' e-mail and Internet privileges in an effort
to ward off potential lawsuits and damage to the company's image.
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- In July, computer and printer maker Hewlett-Packard Co.
HPQ.N suspended approximately 150 staff in Britain and Ireland and dismissed
two for inappropriate use of company e-mail.
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- Twenty percent of the firms polled said they monitor
employee e-mail and Internet usage on a daily basis. In a similar survey
published by KLegal 18 months ago, 11 percent said they checked on employees
on a daily basis.
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- The top three Internet-related abuses were excessive
personal use of the company's Internet or e-mail connection, sending pornographic
e-mails and accessing pornographic Web sites, the survey said.
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- There was only one reported case involving racial harassment
through e-mail, a matter that resulted in a dismissal, the survey said.
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- The survey also revealed that employees are nearly ten
times more likely to be dismissed for exchanging pornographic e-mails than
they would be for sending an e-mail that contains damaging information
about the company.
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