”Time”.
Nowadays, everything is more accessible with technology. Some employees have internet usage justified by their work and authorized by their employer. When an employee spends a lot of time browsing the web or accessing social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, etc. for personal reasons, their performance and work quality are affected.
Your employer could determine the conditions of internet usage while you are at work, but they trust you and may not have thought to ask their IT team to implement these conditions. That’s why, even though you have the right to privacy, even at work, the computers belong to your employer. So, if they have a reason to check your files and browsing activity, they can exercise such supervision as long as it is necessary for the proper functioning of their work environment.
Employers, who are on a corporate network, are able to monitor users’ web usage in real-time. PSSTT It’s an advantage that we offer in our product family. This might seem restrictive to you, but if you had your own business, would you appreciate finding out that your employees are “stealing” your time by being unnecessarily on the web? Educate yourself before learning the hard way about the internet usage control policies that employees can implement at your workplace.
Furthermore, you might be a good employee and not engage in personal browsing on the office computer. However, if you use your mobile phone to do so outside of your breaks and lunchtime to update a status, respond to a Tinder message, or even play a mobile game… In that case, you are at fault for stealing your employer’s time.
Also, keep in mind that it’s not just the time spent on personal matters that constitutes “theft,” but also playing games during your work shift on your desktop computer. Being a winner at solitaire or Minesweeper won’t make you a true champion. It’s possible to track the applications open when the network is corporate. Even if you hide your screen or do ALT+TAB to quickly switch applications when the boss walks by, it doesn’t change anything, they still know!
An employer can impose disciplinary measures on an employee who doesn’t use the internet in accordance with the company’s policy. In some cases, an employee can even be dismissed due to excessive personal internet use. It’s advised to carefully read your hiring documents to understand the restrictions related to permissible web usage. If there’s no mention, ask questions to avoid negative consequences, such as a simple warning or even worse, dismissal.
In summary, an employer can see that their employees have been on Facebook, Instagram, that they’ve been shopping for clothes, shoes, or even winter tires, that they’ve been watching YouTube videos for extended periods, and have been playing online games. The employer realizes that their employees have lost time during work hours, but even more, they’ve essentially stolen time from them!
Do your shopping and socializing outside of your work hours. 😉
