A quarter of the working day is wasted on the Internet.

If ever there was an argument for why your small business needed an Internet policy in place then this would be it – a survey has discovered that around a quarter of the working day is spent by employees aimlessly surfing the Internet and staying on top of their personal emails.

The survey, taken by the law firm Peninsula, questioned more than 2,400 workers.  The workers admitted spending on average two hours a day cruising the Internet and checking their personal email while they should be doing their work.

Furthermore, around 91 per cent of workers have admitted to sending personal emails while they were supposed to be doing their work.  All this wasted time has led to around two-thirds of employers being put in a position where they have had to discipline their employees.

But what preventative action can be taken?  According to the managing director of Peninsula, Peter Done, every business needs to have an Internet policy in place.

“Putting a ban on all personal internet and email usage has been a tactic used by some employers but employees are seemingly ignoring these policies and continuing to use the internet whenever they want,” said Done.

Internet policies can be a great help for businesses – there is more to protect than time!  Having a good written Internet policy in place can;

•    Protect – your business can be liable for the actions taken by your employees on the web.  Having a written Internet policy can protect the business against many legal worries.

•    Clarify – A written Internet policy will perfectly clarify your businesses stance on Internet use.

•    Prevent – The written Internet policy will go a long way to prevent damage to the system as a whole.

•    Avoid – The main reason to have the written Internet policy in place is to avoid the unnecessary waste of time that employees spend on the Internet while they should be working.

So what should your Internet policy highlight?  Not every businesses Internet policy will be the same, but there are a few things that every business should keep in mind when drawing up their policy.

•    Define how much personal use is acceptable for employees during working hours.
•    Explain when employees should attach disclaimers to their emails and highlight the importance of such disclaimers.
•    Underline the necessity for security – using passwords and locking keyboards is a vital way of staying safe.
•    Explain the correct use of language and etiquette, for example many businesses do not allow the use of capital letters as they can be seen as aggressive.
•    Prohibit the accessing of offensive or indecent materials such as pornography, racist materials or violent images.
•    Be open about the level of monitoring that will be carried out, if there is any at all.
•    Be clear about any punishment that will occur if the rules are broken.

How about you?

Do you agree that written Internet policies need to be featured in businesses?  Do you feel that Internet policies are a step too far?  Leave us a comment and let us know what you think…

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