Employees are wasting 40 per cent of their time by surfing the internet and sending e-mails, according to new figures revealed today.
UK employment firm Peninsula’s survey of 3245 employees and 746 employers nationwide, revealed the full extent of the abuse of internet services in the workplace. Nearly all the employees questioned admitted using the internet for personal reasons rather than for work-related purposes, and the average time spent browsing was three hours.
The survey also revealed that the problem has increased over the last year, having a serious effect on firms’ productivity. Employers are losing resources like time and money as personal internet usage has stretched across all ages and cultures.
“The results prove that employers are unaware as to how significant the problem is for their businesses. Depending on the size of the company, the problems may alter in significance from bad to severe,” said Peter Done, managing director of Peninsula.
However, the vast majority of employers do not monitor their employees’ internet usage, even though many companies rely heavily on the use of e-mail and internet facilities and therefore cannot avoid having them open to employees.
“Employers should consider adopting a policy regarding regarding the use of internet and email,” commented Done. “An employer may be held liable for discriminatory material sent by employees via email whether they knew it or not. Having a policy may help to prove that you took steps to prevent discrimination from taking place.”
Some companies do monitor their employees’ internet usage, whereby all sites visited and accessed are noted and if internet abuse has occurred the employer is notified and for any further action. “This may add costs to a business with the development of a monitoring department,” said Done, “but it may ultimately save a business financially, with costs for employing such a system being fractional in comparison.”
