Nancye M. Combs: Guest blogger 
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- Handling employee ultimatums
- Weapons in the workplace
- Keeping employees on track—and on the clock
- Maintaining a drug-free workplace
- Downsizing and discrimination
- Workplace safety
- Instant messaging in the workplace
- Three day weekends
- Questions and Answers with Nancye
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Instant messaging in the workplace
Q: Nancye, we have a problem with an employee in our payroll department. She is abusing the company computers by spending long hours on instant messaging every day. I have asked the IT manager to block her from instant messaging privileges. Since she is a member of a minority group, I am worried about discrimination. Is this discrimination? By the way, I should tell you, Nancye, that we let employees use the Internet at lunchtime without any penalty.
A: I would not be worried about discrimination unless you let non-minorities abuse instant messaging with no penalty. If this employee does not need to use instant messaging, or has abused her privileges by visiting with friends during her workday, then taking away the privilege is an option. But taking her privileges away as the first step in correcting the problem may be a little drastic.
Two steps of management seem to be missing. One is coaching, and the other is counseling. If it is noticed that she is spending too much time on instant messaging during her workday, the appropriate approach is to say to her:
(Coaching) "We noticed that you are spending a lot of time using instant messaging. Is this business related? Please explain that to me. If it is not business related, then we ask that you limit the use to business only. We recognize that instant messaging is valuable but cannot be abused. Your work is very important and your time needs to be spent focused on your work." After that time, the abuse should stop. If it does not, then say this:
(Counseling) "We had a conversation about instant messaging and we have noticed that the long usage has continued. I want you to know that we will need to discontinue your instant messaging privileges if this continues, so I am expecting you to correct the problem."
If she does not immediately correct the problem, then you invoke discipline and suspend her privileges. Going straight to discipline may be offensive and cause her to quit because she may feel she has been treated like a child. I don't think it is discriminatory, but it may not be the management practice that works best to get the behavior changed without losing the respect and trust of the employee.
Now, let me address the Internet use at lunchtime. Keep in mind that you are always responsible for your employees while they are on your premises. I won’t discourage you from allowing them to use the Internet at lunchtime because that is an alternative to “going to the mall.” It is also an alternative to having them sneak time surfing the Web when you are not around.
However, you are still responsible for what your employees do, such as downloading copyrighted materials or going to sites that are generally offensive to reasonable people. Be certain you have a written policy about Internet use.
Your Internet policy should be in writing and address the use of all of your telecommunications equipment. It should address your expected behavior regarding telephones, e-mail, voice mail and the Internet. Have every employee sign that they have received a copy of the policy.
You must take precautions because you, the employer, will be liable if your employee does something inappropriate. As I am sure you know, the contents of a computer can wind up in court. That is an exposure you don’t need and it is easy to fix without prohibiting all personal privileges for employees.
Instant messaging in the workplace
August 29, 2007
Q: Nancye, we have a problem with an employee in our payroll department. She is abusing the company computers by spending long hours on instant messaging every day. I have asked the IT manager to block her from instant messaging privileges. Since she is a member of a minority group, I am worried about discrimination. Is this discrimination? By the way, I should tell you, Nancye, that we let employees use the Internet at lunchtime without any penalty. A: I would not be worried about discrimination unless you let non-minorities abuse instant messaging with no penalty. If this employee does not need to use instant messaging, or has abused her privileges by visiting with friends during her workday, then taking away the privilege is an option. But taking her privileges away as the first step in correcting the problem may be a little drastic.
Two steps of management seem to be missing. One is coaching, and the other is counseling. If it is noticed that she is spending too much time on instant messaging during her workday, the appropriate approach is to say to her:
(Coaching) "We noticed that you are spending a lot of time using instant messaging. Is this business related? Please explain that to me. If it is not business related, then we ask that you limit the use to business only. We recognize that instant messaging is valuable but cannot be abused. Your work is very important and your time needs to be spent focused on your work." After that time, the abuse should stop. If it does not, then say this:
(Counseling) "We had a conversation about instant messaging and we have noticed that the long usage has continued. I want you to know that we will need to discontinue your instant messaging privileges if this continues, so I am expecting you to correct the problem."
If she does not immediately correct the problem, then you invoke discipline and suspend her privileges. Going straight to discipline may be offensive and cause her to quit because she may feel she has been treated like a child. I don't think it is discriminatory, but it may not be the management practice that works best to get the behavior changed without losing the respect and trust of the employee.
Now, let me address the Internet use at lunchtime. Keep in mind that you are always responsible for your employees while they are on your premises. I won’t discourage you from allowing them to use the Internet at lunchtime because that is an alternative to “going to the mall.” It is also an alternative to having them sneak time surfing the Web when you are not around.
However, you are still responsible for what your employees do, such as downloading copyrighted materials or going to sites that are generally offensive to reasonable people. Be certain you have a written policy about Internet use.
Your Internet policy should be in writing and address the use of all of your telecommunications equipment. It should address your expected behavior regarding telephones, e-mail, voice mail and the Internet. Have every employee sign that they have received a copy of the policy.
You must take precautions because you, the employer, will be liable if your employee does something inappropriate. As I am sure you know, the contents of a computer can wind up in court. That is an exposure you don’t need and it is easy to fix without prohibiting all personal privileges for employees.
Posted by Nancye Combs on August 29, 2007 | Comments (0)
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